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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. clip — a video
  3. bore — to drill
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bore — to tire
  7. clip — for paper
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. cold — not warm
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. stock — goods
  14. pit — in a race
  15. pit — a hole
  16. cold — an illness
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. wake — a trail
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. stock — shares
  24. nail — on a finger

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