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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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Word bank
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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: bore · ruler · press · cold · court · field

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. 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. bore — to tire
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. court — for sport
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. press — a publisher
  6. court — of law
  7. field — farmland
  8. court — of a king
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. cold — not warm
  11. press — newspapers
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — a subject
  14. press — to push
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. cold — an illness
  18. 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