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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: ground · degree · rush · land · cell · drill · cold · object

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. degree — temperature
  4. drill — the tool
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. drill — army training
  7. degree — an amount
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cold — not warm
  10. ground — the earth
  11. land — a country
  12. land — ground
  13. object — a thing
  14. ground — a position
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. object — an aim
  18. cell — a phone
  19. land — to come down
  20. cell — in biology
  21. rush — hurry
  22. ground — crushed
  23. drill — a practice
  24. object — to protest

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