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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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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: tear · land · cold · drill · court · board · object · calf

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. cold — not warm
  3. object — a thing
  4. land — ground
  5. drill — army training
  6. board — to get on
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. tear — from crying
  10. court — of law
  11. drill — the tool
  12. land — a country
  13. tear — to rip
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. drill — a practice
  16. object — to protest
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. land — to come down
  20. board — a committee
  21. court — for sport
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cold — an illness
  24. court — of a king

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