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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. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. board — a committee
  3. track — to keep track
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. cold — not warm
  9. perch — the fish
  10. track — a song
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. drill — a practice
  15. root — of a word
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. root — of a plant
  18. drill — army training
  19. track — a path
  20. board — to get on
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. root — the cause
  24. cold — the Cold War

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