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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 116 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 train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. land — to come down
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pitch — completely
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. land — a country
  8. saw — the tool
  9. drill — the tool
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. drill — a practice
  12. net — in sport
  13. saw — the tool
  14. net — after costs
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. fork — in a road
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. cold — an illness
  21. net — for catching
  22. land — ground
  23. drill — army training
  24. pitch — a sports field

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