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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. prune — to trim
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. cold — not warm
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. capital — money
  9. bore — to drill
  10. dip — to sink
  11. bore — to tire
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. cold — an illness
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. scale — size or range
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. capital — a city
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — for weighing

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