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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. rash — hasty
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. date — the fruit
  8. drill — the tool
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wind — moving air
  12. land — to come down
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. rash — a series
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. drill — a practice
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. land — ground
  20. vault — a safe
  21. land — a country
  22. drill — army training
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. nail — for a hammer

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