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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 120 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cell — in biology
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. rash — a series
  5. spring — the season
  6. mark — a grade
  7. drill — the tool
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bore — to tire
  11. bore — to drill
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. spring — of water
  14. rash — hasty
  15. spring — a coil
  16. drill — army training
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. cell — a phone
  19. pitch — completely
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. cold — an illness
  23. mark — a trace
  24. drill — a practice

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