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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: date · bore · cold · rock · bay · roll · ruler · wind

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. wind — moving air
  7. roll — a list
  8. rock — music
  9. date — the fruit
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. bore — to tire
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. roll — a cake
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bore — to drill
  20. rock — a stone
  21. ruler — a monarch
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. ruler — for measuring

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