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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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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: land · drill · bowl · charge · content · spring · rule · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — a country
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. rule — government
  6. charge — electricity
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. content — the amount
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rule — a law
  11. drill — the tool
  12. land — ground
  13. content — happy
  14. spring — the season
  15. charge — a price
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. charge — in control
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. drill — army training
  20. spring — a coil
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. spring — of water
  24. drill — a practice

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