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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: land · vault · mine · race · fan · drill · tear · squash

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. vault — a safe
  3. drill — the tool
  4. squash — to crush
  5. land — a country
  6. land — to come down
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. land — ground
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. race — humankind
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. race — a contest
  16. tear — from crying
  17. drill — a practice
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. squash — the sport
  24. race — the arms race

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