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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. My mare is ________________ in color.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. kid — child
  3. drill — army training
  4. net — for catching
  5. hand — in cards
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bay — a horse colour
  8. drill — the tool
  9. rash — a series
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. rash — hasty
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. bound — tied together
  17. bound — certain
  18. drill — a practice
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. net — in sport
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. bat — the animal
  24. net — after costs

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