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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: dip · wind · cold · date · kick · drill · march · ruler

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. march — music
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. drill — a practice
  7. dip — to sink
  8. march — the month
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. wind — moving air
  11. drill — the tool
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. kick — in football
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. drill — army training
  18. date — the fruit
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. cold — the Cold War

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