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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 120 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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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: row · mine · perch · stick · cold · drill · net · cell

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. drill — army training
  3. cell — a phone
  4. net — for catching
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. row — a line
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. drill — the tool
  12. cold — an illness
  13. perch — the fish
  14. row — to paddle
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. drill — a practice
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. net — in sport
  20. mine — for digging
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. net — after costs

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