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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 116 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: fork · deal · patient · drill · land · season · cold · court

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. court — for sport
  3. cold — an illness
  4. court — of a king
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. fork — in a road
  8. land — ground
  9. season — of the year
  10. cold — not warm
  11. land — a country
  12. season — in sport
  13. land — to come down
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. drill — a practice
  18. court — of law
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. deal — to handle
  23. drill — army training
  24. cold — the Cold War

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