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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. bore — to tire
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. bore — to drill
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. file — a tool
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. rush — hurry
  9. deal — to handle
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. object — a thing
  14. object — to protest
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. spring — a coil
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. cold — an illness
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. cold — not warm
  22. spring — of water
  23. fork — in a road
  24. spring — the season

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