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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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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 · drill · fall · rule · perch · tear · last · rash

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — the season
  3. drill — the tool
  4. drill — a practice
  5. tear — to rip
  6. drill — army training
  7. last — final
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rule — government
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. perch — the fish
  12. rule — a law
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fall — to drop
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. last — to go on
  19. rash — a series
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. tear — from crying
  22. last — finally
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — not warm

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