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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: board · cold · stock · land · ground · pitcher · mate · bore

  1. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  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. bore — to drill
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. bore — to tire
  4. cold — not warm
  5. board — a committee
  6. board — to get on
  7. mate — to breed
  8. mate — a friend
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. stock — goods
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. ground — a position
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. mate — a partner
  16. land — to come down
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed
  19. land — ground
  20. land — a country
  21. cold — an illness
  22. stock — shares
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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