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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: rule · trunk · spell · cold · drill · pop · deal · season

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. pop — music
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. rule — government
  5. spell — a short time
  6. rule — a law
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. pop — to visit
  9. deal — to handle
  10. spell — magic
  11. cold — not warm
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. spell — letters
  16. pop — soda
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — of the year
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. drill — the tool
  22. drill — army training
  23. drill — a practice
  24. rule — to rule out

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