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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 · spring · chair · pass · hide · date · squash · cold

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. spring — of water
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cold — not warm
  7. pass — a permit
  8. drill — army training
  9. spring — a coil
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. date — the fruit
  12. chair — a leader
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. drill — the tool
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. squash — to crush
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. squash — the sport
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. cold — an illness
  24. spring — the season

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