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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. cold — not warm
  5. shower — to wash
  6. scale — in music
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. pound — a weight
  10. shower — rain
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. wind — moving air
  18. scale — size or range
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. bore — to tire
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wind — moving air
  24. scale — for weighing

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