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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: drill · leaves · cold · sharp · hand · suit · ground · saw

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. saw — the tool
  3. saw — the tool
  4. hand — help
  5. drill — a practice
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. ground — crushed
  8. ground — a position
  9. drill — the tool
  10. suit — in cards
  11. cold — an illness
  12. hand — in cards
  13. sharp — clever
  14. suit — to fit
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. suit — clothes
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — not warm
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. drill — army training
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. ground — the earth

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