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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 124 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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. face — to confront
  4. staff — a stick
  5. stock — shares
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. object — a thing
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bore — to tire
  12. staff — employees
  13. bore — to drill
  14. cell — in biology
  15. object — to protest
  16. object — an aim
  17. face — part of the head
  18. cell — a phone
  19. face — to point toward
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stock — goods
  22. staff — employees
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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