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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. field — for sport
  3. rash — hasty
  4. bore — to tire
  5. field — a subject
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. pop — music
  8. degree — temperature
  9. pop — soda
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pop — to visit
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. stand — to bear
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. degree — from a university
  17. rash — a series
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. cold — not warm
  21. field — farmland
  22. bore — to drill
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. degree — an amount

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