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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. cold — an illness
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. bore — to tire
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. press — to push
  7. stand — to bear
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — a box
  10. press — a publisher
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. press — newspapers
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bore — to drill
  16. kick — in football
  17. saw — the tool
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. chest — of your body
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. mine — for digging
  24. stand — for spectators

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