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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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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: fork · rash · sharp · cold · foot · land · tube · drill

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. rash — hasty
  3. foot — part of the body
  4. land — to come down
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. foot — a measure
  7. sharp — clever
  8. rash — a series
  9. tube — the underground
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. cold — an illness
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. land — ground
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. land — a country
  18. drill — army training
  19. drill — the tool
  20. fork — in a road
  21. tube — a container
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. cold — not warm
  24. drill — a practice

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