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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 ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. root — of a word
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. drill — a practice
  5. root — of a plant
  6. root — the cause
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. kid — child
  12. shower — rain
  13. last — to go on
  14. hand — help
  15. bat — the animal
  16. shower — to wash
  17. charge — a price
  18. charge — electricity
  19. hand — in cards
  20. last — finally
  21. drill — army training
  22. kid — to tease
  23. last — final
  24. charge — in control

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