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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. bore — to drill
  4. cold — an illness
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. deal — to handle
  12. cold — not warm
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. clip — a video
  18. squash — the sport
  19. race — humankind
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. squash — to crush
  23. race — a contest
  24. race — the arms race

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