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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 116 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: racket · cold · pit · present · rash · cell · drill · tear

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cell — in biology
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. tear — to rip
  8. drill — a practice
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pit — in a race
  11. present — a gift
  12. pit — a hole
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. rash — a series
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. tear — from crying
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. present — there
  20. present — the time now
  21. rash — hasty
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. cold — not warm
  24. drill — the tool

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