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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. cold — an illness
  3. net — in sport
  4. plane — a tool
  5. net — for catching
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. net — after costs
  9. pop — music
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. degree — temperature
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bore — to tire
  15. degree — from a university
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spring — the season
  18. degree — an amount
  19. pop — soda
  20. pop — to visit
  21. fall — the season
  22. spring — of water
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. bore — to drill

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