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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. field — for sport
  3. cold — an illness
  4. land — ground
  5. fall — the season
  6. ball — a great time
  7. ball — a dance
  8. mug — a face
  9. land — a country
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bore — to tire
  13. mug — to rob
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — to recline
  16. mug — a cup
  17. fall — to drop
  18. bore — to drill
  19. land — to come down
  20. fall — to drop
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. field — farmland
  24. field — a subject

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