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

Word bank: cold · fan · hand · present · rule · degree · fall · drill

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. drill — army training
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. drill — a practice
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fall — to drop
  7. rule — a law
  8. degree — an amount
  9. present — the time now
  10. drill — the tool
  11. hand — in cards
  12. degree — temperature
  13. cold — not warm
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. present — there
  18. cold — an illness
  19. hand — help
  20. rule — government
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. fall — the season
  23. fall — to drop
  24. present — a gift

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