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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 was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. cold — an illness
  3. firm — steady
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. firm — decided
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. chip — for betting
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. drill — army training
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. drill — a practice
  17. ball — a dance
  18. cold — not warm
  19. firm — a company
  20. bat — the animal
  21. chip — to eat
  22. drill — the tool
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. ruler — for measuring

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