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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: mine · dip · tear · lean · fall · cold · bay · drill

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. bay — a part of the sea
  3. cold — not warm
  4. drill — the tool
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. mine — for digging
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. tear — from crying
  12. fall — the season
  13. tear — from crying
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. lean — thin
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. dip — to sink
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. fall — to drop
  21. drill — a practice
  22. lean — to bend
  23. tear — to rip
  24. lean — to rest against

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