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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: drill · trunk · tear · last · pound · cold · rash · pitcher

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. drill — a practice
  3. cold — not warm
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — to rip
  6. last — finally
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pound — a weight
  9. tear — from crying
  10. rash — hasty
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. rash — a series
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. last — final
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. drill — army training
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. drill — the tool
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. last — to go on
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cold — an illness

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