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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 120 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: pitcher · ground · rule · swing · leaves · cold · nail · drill

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. swing — music
  5. ground — crushed
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. rule — a law
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. swing — in golf
  10. ground — a position
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. drill — a practice
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. drill — the tool
  15. cold — an illness
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. swing — to play on
  18. rule — government
  19. ground — the earth
  20. leaves — lets stay
  21. drill — army training
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. leaves — to go away

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