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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: stick · last · hand · perch · cold · patient · land · drill

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — in cards
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. drill — the tool
  7. drill — a practice
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. hand — help
  10. land — to come down
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. last — finally
  13. last — final
  14. perch — the fish
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. land — ground
  17. last — to go on
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. drill — army training
  20. land — a country
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. cold — an illness

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