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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 116 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: drill · club · capital · cold · staff · hide · fork · land

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. staff — employees
  4. capital — a city
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. club — for dancing
  8. fork — in a road
  9. drill — the tool
  10. drill — a practice
  11. staff — a stick
  12. club — for golf
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. staff — employees
  15. drill — army training
  16. club — a group
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. land — a country
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — ground
  22. capital — money
  23. cold — not warm
  24. fork — a garden 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