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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. mate — a partner
  5. track — to keep track
  6. bore — to drill
  7. mate — to breed
  8. rest — what's left
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bore — to tire
  11. swing — to play on
  12. swing — music
  13. track — a song
  14. bat — the animal
  15. ball — a dance
  16. track — a path
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. cold — an illness
  19. ball — a great time
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — a break
  22. mate — a friend
  23. swing — in golf
  24. ball — a round shape

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