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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: mine · cold · kid · nail · face · key · last · drill

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was 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 — to go on
  3. key — for a lock
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. face — to confront
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. face — to point toward
  9. kid — to tease
  10. last — finally
  11. key — the most important part
  12. key — in music
  13. face — part of the head
  14. last — final
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. drill — the tool
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. mine — for digging
  20. drill — a practice
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. drill — army training
  24. kid — child

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