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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. bark — to shout
  3. saw — the tool
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wind — moving air
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. field — a subject
  12. saw — the tool
  13. wind — moving air
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. field — for sport
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bore — to tire
  22. field — farmland
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. saw — past of 'see'

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com