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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. row — a line
  4. bore — to drill
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. mug — a cup
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. court — of law
  9. mug — to rob
  10. row — to paddle
  11. bore — to tire
  12. court — for sport
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. craft — boats
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. wax — to grow
  18. mug — a face
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. court — of a king
  21. craft — a skill
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. pitcher — a jug

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