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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. cap — a hat
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. spring — the season
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cold — an illness
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. pitch — completely
  11. bore — to drill
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — of water
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. ball — a dance
  17. cap — of ice
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. bore — to tire
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. lash — an eyelash
  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