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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. bore — to tire
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. field — farmland
  5. saw — the tool
  6. mate — a friend
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bore — to drill
  9. field — for sport
  10. cold — an illness
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. mate — a partner
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a document
  18. field — a subject
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cold — not warm
  21. file — a line of people
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. deal — to handle
  24. deal — an agreement

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