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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: cold · mine · fan · net · drill · rule · perch · safe

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. mine — for digging
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. net — for catching
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. net — in sport
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rule — government
  16. drill — the tool
  17. perch — the fish
  18. rule — a law
  19. cold — not warm
  20. drill — a practice
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. drill — army training

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