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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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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. hand — help
  4. bore — to drill
  5. wake — a trail
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. cold — an illness
  10. tube — a container
  11. bore — to tire
  12. degree — from a university
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. hand — in cards
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. degree — an amount

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