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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: cell · cold · rest · land · bass · drill · stick · last

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. bass — the fish
  3. drill — army training
  4. last — to go on
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. rest — what's left
  7. last — finally
  8. drill — the tool
  9. land — ground
  10. cell — a phone
  11. drill — a practice
  12. last — final
  13. cold — not warm
  14. rest — a break
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. land — to come down
  17. land — a country
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — low music
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cold — an illness
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. rest — what's left

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