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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. bore — to tire
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitch — completely
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. degree — temperature
  8. degree — from a university
  9. degree — an amount
  10. cold — an illness
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. hand — in cards
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. fork — in a road
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bore — to drill
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. hand — help
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. pass — a permit
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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