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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: bore · cold · wake · lean · march · foot · race · present

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. march — music
  3. wake — a trail
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. lean — to bend
  9. march — the month
  10. bore — to tire
  11. present — a gift
  12. present — the time now
  13. lean — thin
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. bore — to drill
  16. race — a contest
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — humankind
  20. march — the month
  21. foot — a measure
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. bore — gave birth

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