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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. season — in sport
  3. bore — to drill
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. content — the amount
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. field — farmland
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. bore — to tire
  12. cold — not warm
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. field — for sport
  15. file — a document
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. file — a line of people
  19. season — of the year
  20. content — happy
  21. file — a tool
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. field — a subject

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