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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. drill — the tool
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. wound — an injury
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. branch — a division
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. wound — an injury
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. land — ground
  12. lean — thin
  13. drill — army training
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. cold — not warm
  16. lean — to bend
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. squash — the sport
  19. land — to come down
  20. cold — an illness
  21. land — a country
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. squash — to crush
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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