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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. bore — to drill
  4. can — a tin
  5. cold — not warm
  6. root — of a plant
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. cold — an illness
  9. can — a tin
  10. root — the cause
  11. field — farmland
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. can — to be able to
  14. field — a subject
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bore — to tire
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. field — for sport
  21. root — of a word
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. bore — gave birth
  24. jam — in traffic

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