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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. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. bore — to tire
  3. spring — of water
  4. squash — the sport
  5. spring — the season
  6. field — a subject
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. cold — an illness
  16. field — farmland
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. spring — a coil
  19. cold — not warm
  20. band — a music group
  21. band — a ring
  22. squash — to crush
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. field — for sport

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