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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 · dip · present · can · kick · bore · chair · race

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. race — humankind
  4. dip — to sink
  5. present — there
  6. bore — to tire
  7. bore — to drill
  8. can — to be able to
  9. race — a contest
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. present — a gift
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. can — a tin
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. can — a tin
  18. race — the arms race
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — not warm
  21. kick — in football
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. chair — a leader
  24. present — the time now

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