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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: fall · lash · season · fork · ball · chest · drill · cold

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. drill — the tool
  3. fall — to drop
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. ball — a dance
  6. chest — a box
  7. season — of the year
  8. drill — a practice
  9. cold — not warm
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. chest — of your body
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. fall — the season
  16. season — in sport
  17. ball — a great time
  18. cold — an illness
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. drill — army training
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. chest — of your body
  23. fall — to drop
  24. fork — in a road

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