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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 120 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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. last — final
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. last — finally
  9. cap — a hat
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. cold — not warm
  12. last — to go on
  13. drill — army training
  14. cell — a phone
  15. snap — to click
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. dip — to sink
  18. pound — a weight
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. cap — a lid
  23. drill — a practice
  24. cap — of ice

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