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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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. row — to paddle
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. drill — the tool
  6. saw — the tool
  7. pit — in a race
  8. drill — army training
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. drill — a practice
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — the animal
  20. saw — the tool
  21. row — a line
  22. sharp — clever
  23. squash — to crush
  24. pit — a hole

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