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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. present — the time now
  3. bore — to drill
  4. fall — to drop
  5. face — to confront
  6. fall — to drop
  7. cold — not warm
  8. bore — to tire
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. fall — the season
  11. present — there
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. ball — a great time
  14. shower — to wash
  15. ball — a dance
  16. shower — rain
  17. present — a gift
  18. face — to point toward
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. face — part of the head
  21. rule — government
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. cold — an illness

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