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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: leaves · cold · row · kid · roll · drill · rash · date

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. cold — not warm
  4. kid — to tease
  5. cold — an illness
  6. rash — hasty
  7. rash — a series
  8. kid — child
  9. row — a line
  10. drill — army training
  11. drill — a practice
  12. row — to paddle
  13. roll — a cake
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. drill — the tool
  23. roll — a list
  24. date — the fruit

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