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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: tube · cold · net · pound · kid · drill · fall · present

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. net — after costs
  3. tube — a container
  4. fall — the season
  5. cold — an illness
  6. fall — to drop
  7. pound — a weight
  8. net — in sport
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. kid — child
  11. present — there
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. drill — army training
  14. drill — the tool
  15. net — for catching
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. present — a gift
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. tube — the underground
  20. present — the time now
  21. fall — to drop
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. kid — to tease
  24. cold — not warm

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