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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: fall · drill · bore · mine · foot · patient · spell · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. fall — to drop
  4. cold — not warm
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. spell — a short time
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. bore — to tire
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. spell — magic
  13. drill — the tool
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bore — to drill
  16. spell — letters
  17. drill — a practice
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. fall — the season
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. foot — a measure
  22. mine — for digging
  23. drill — army training
  24. cold — the Cold War

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