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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: cold · land · arm · drill · coach · can · row · last

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. cold — not warm
  3. can — to be able to
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. cold — an illness
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. drill — army training
  9. can — a tin
  10. land — a country
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. row — to paddle
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. can — a tin
  15. land — ground
  16. last — final
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. drill — the tool
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. last — to go on
  21. land — to come down
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. row — a line
  24. last — finally

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