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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: rule · drill · cold · track · straw · last · net · perch

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. perch — the fish
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. cold — an illness
  7. last — finally
  8. net — for catching
  9. track — to keep track
  10. net — in sport
  11. last — final
  12. drill — army training
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. drill — the tool
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. rule — government
  18. track — a song
  19. drill — a practice
  20. cold — not warm
  21. last — to go on
  22. track — a path
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. net — after costs

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