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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: calf · drill · wound · hand · cold · march · lie · fine

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — not warm
  9. drill — army training
  10. cold — an illness
  11. lie — to recline
  12. wound — an injury
  13. fine — high quality
  14. hand — in cards
  15. wound — an injury
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. hand — help
  19. march — the month
  20. drill — the tool
  21. march — music
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. drill — a practice

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