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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: drill · bore · cold · hide · patient · swing · land · present

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. land — a country
  5. present — a gift
  6. swing — to play on
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. swing — music
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. land — to come down
  12. cold — not warm
  13. swing — in golf
  14. bore — to tire
  15. present — there
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bore — to drill
  18. drill — army training
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. drill — the tool
  21. drill — a practice
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. present — the time now

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