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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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — to tease
  4. ball — a great time
  5. roll — a list
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. drill — the tool
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. ball — a dance
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. roll — a cake
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. cell — in biology
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cell — a phone
  18. drill — a practice
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. drill — army training
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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