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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: cold · mine · track · mouse · bore · rule · can · dip

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. 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. can — to be able to
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. track — to keep track
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. rule — a law
  8. bore — to tire
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. dip — to sink
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. rule — government
  13. can — a tin
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. cold — an illness
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. track — a path
  22. can — a tin
  23. track — a song
  24. 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