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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: pit · lean · dip · cold · kid · bore · mate · club

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. bore — to tire
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. cold — not warm
  6. club — for golf
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a friend
  9. bore — to drill
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. mate — a partner
  12. club — for dancing
  13. lean — thin
  14. kid — child
  15. lean — to bend
  16. pit — a hole
  17. pit — in a race
  18. dip — to sink
  19. kid — to tease
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. club — a group

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