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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bat — the animal
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. drill — a practice
  6. mate — a friend
  7. bound — certain
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. squash — to crush
  10. mate — a partner
  11. drill — the tool
  12. drill — army training
  13. kid — to tease
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. kid — child
  16. bound — tied together
  17. mate — to breed
  18. bound — obliged

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