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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. club — a group
  3. club — for dancing
  4. fall — to drop
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. bore — to drill
  9. field — for sport
  10. club — for golf
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. fall — to drop
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — farmland
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bore — to tire
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. cold — not warm
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. fall — the season
  23. wind — moving air
  24. nail — for a hammer

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