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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: leaves · chest · drill · fan · present · land · cold · safe

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. land — ground
  3. present — a gift
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. land — a country
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. cold — an illness
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. present — there
  16. chest — a box
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. cold — not warm
  19. drill — a practice
  20. present — the time now
  21. chest — of your body
  22. drill — army training
  23. chest — of your body
  24. land — to come down

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