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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. field — for sport
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — to visit
  6. land — to come down
  7. cold — an illness
  8. fall — the season
  9. ball — a dance
  10. key — for a lock
  11. pop — soda
  12. key — the most important part
  13. land — a country
  14. land — ground
  15. bore — to drill
  16. ball — a great time
  17. field — a subject
  18. cold — not warm
  19. field — farmland
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — to drop
  22. key — in music
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. bore — to tire

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