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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · bore · bowl · deal · race · squash

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. race — humankind
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. race — the arms race
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. bore — to tire
  11. deal — to handle
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. squash — the sport
  14. race — a contest
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bore — to drill
  17. squash — to crush
  18. cold — an illness

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