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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 120 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bore — to drill
  3. field — a subject
  4. spell — magic
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. chair — a leader
  7. cold — not warm
  8. can — a tin
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bulb — for light
  11. cold — an illness
  12. field — for sport
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bore — to tire
  15. spell — a short time
  16. bulb — for light
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. can — a tin
  19. can — to be able to
  20. field — farmland
  21. spell — letters
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. bat — for baseball

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