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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. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. deal — to handle
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bark — to shout
  6. mine — for digging
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. bore — to drill
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bore — to tire
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. wake — a trail
  14. race — humankind
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. cold — not warm
  18. race — a contest
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. tube — a container
  21. tube — the underground
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. cold — the Cold War

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