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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: drill · plane · temple · wind · roll · pitch · last · cold

  1. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — a tool
  2. roll — a cake
  3. last — final
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. cold — an illness
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. drill — army training
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. cold — not warm
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. roll — a list
  13. drill — the tool
  14. last — to go on
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. last — finally
  21. wind — moving air
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. drill — a practice
  24. pitch — completely

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