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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 120 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: drill · land · deal · fan · cell · wave · cold · snap

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. snap — to click
  4. drill — army training
  5. deal — to handle
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cell — in biology
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. land — ground
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. land — a country
  17. cell — a phone
  18. drill — a practice
  19. cold — an illness
  20. land — to come down
  21. drill — the tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. fan — a supporter

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