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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 · last · tear · hand · drill · rule · row · foot

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. foot — the bottom
  4. drill — army training
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. rule — government
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. row — a line
  10. foot — a measure
  11. drill — the tool
  12. tear — from crying
  13. last — finally
  14. cell — in biology
  15. row — to paddle
  16. last — to go on
  17. last — final
  18. drill — a practice
  19. hand — in cards
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cell — a phone
  22. rule — a law
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. hand — help

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