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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: mark · drill · degree · lean · cold · last · mate · land

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. degree — from a university
  4. drill — army training
  5. degree — temperature
  6. land — a country
  7. lean — to bend
  8. drill — the tool
  9. lean — thin
  10. mate — a partner
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. land — to come down
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. last — final
  15. degree — an amount
  16. last — finally
  17. mark — a grade
  18. last — to go on
  19. mate — a friend
  20. cold — not warm
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mark — a trace
  23. drill — a practice
  24. cold — an illness

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