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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: bore · trunk · game · dip · cold · row · season · foot

  1. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. bore — to tire
  3. bore — to drill
  4. game — wild animals
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. cold — not warm
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. season — in sport
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. row — a line
  13. dip — to sink
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. cold — an illness
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. row — to paddle
  20. foot — a measure
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. game — a match
  23. season — of the year
  24. cold — the Cold War

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