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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cue — a hint
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. land — to come down
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. drill — the tool
  8. land — ground
  9. bark — to shout
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. cue — for pool
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. land — a country
  14. cold — an illness
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. cue — a signal
  17. bass — the fish
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. drill — army training
  20. bass — low music
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. drill — a practice

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