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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: cell · cold · kick · drill · arm · mark · spring · wake

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. kick — in football
  3. cell — in biology
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. cold — an illness
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wake — a trail
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. spring — the season
  14. drill — army training
  15. mark — a grade
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. drill — the tool
  19. spring — of water
  20. mark — a trace
  21. spring — a coil
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. cold — not warm

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