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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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. squash — to crush
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. row — to paddle
  6. content — the amount
  7. squash — the sport
  8. spring — a coil
  9. bat — the animal
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. spring — of water
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. content — happy
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. spring — the season
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bore — to tire
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. row — a line

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