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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bore — to tire
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. chest — of your body
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. mate — a partner
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. mate — to breed
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. shower — rain
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mate — a friend
  20. chest — of your body
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. chest — a box
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bore — to drill

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