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

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. drill — army training
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. chest — a box
  11. wound — an injury
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. bark — to shout
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. drill — a practice
  22. hand — help
  23. chest — of your body
  24. fan — a supporter

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