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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. drill — army training
  3. cold — an illness
  4. drill — the tool
  5. date — the fruit
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. last — final
  8. pop — to visit
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. last — finally
  13. last — to go on
  14. snap — to click
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. land — ground
  18. pop — soda
  19. land — a country
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. land — to come down
  22. pop — music
  23. perch — the fish
  24. cold — not warm

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