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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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Word bank
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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cell — a phone
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. deal — to handle
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. scale — size or range
  13. bore — to tire
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cell — in biology
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. chair — a leader
  22. scale — in music
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. leaves — of a tree

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