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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. rule — a law
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. rule — government
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. bore — to drill
  9. cold — not warm
  10. dip — to sink
  11. bat — the animal
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. bore — to tire
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. lie — to recline
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. field — for sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. field — a subject
  24. wave — of the sea

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