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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. last — to go on
  4. bass — low music
  5. rush — hurry
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. last — finally
  9. scale — size or range
  10. scale — in music
  11. bass — the fish
  12. cold — not warm
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. bore — to drill
  24. last — final

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