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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. file — a tool
  4. bore — to tire
  5. fall — to drop
  6. cold — not warm
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. chest — of your body
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. chest — a box
  12. fall — the season
  13. pit — in a race
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. fall — to drop
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. file — a document
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pit — a hole
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bore — to drill

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