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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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. bore — to tire
  6. current — happening now
  7. current — electric
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. bore — to drill
  10. pit — a hole
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. pit — in a race
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. wind — moving air
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. snap — to click
  19. cold — an illness
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. current — of water
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wind — moving air

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