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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 · pop · spell · leaves · hide · last · cold · rash

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. last — final
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. cold — an illness
  5. spell — letters
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rash — a series
  8. spell — a short time
  9. pop — music
  10. last — finally
  11. pop — soda
  12. rash — hasty
  13. drill — the tool
  14. drill — a practice
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. last — to go on
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. pop — to visit
  20. drill — army training
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. spell — magic
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. rash — on the skin

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