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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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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: roll · drill · chest · saw · cold · bark · stand · coach

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. bark — to shout
  4. chest — a box
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. drill — the tool
  7. chest — of your body
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. roll — a list
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. saw — the tool
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. drill — a practice
  16. cold — an illness
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. stand — to bear
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. drill — army training
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. saw — the tool

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