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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. ball — a dance
  3. prune — to trim
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. pass — to succeed
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. mark — a grade
  10. mark — a trace
  11. pass — a permit
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. ball — a great time
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cell — in biology
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. bore — to drill
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — help
  24. cold — not warm

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