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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 116 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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. plane — a tool
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. hand — help
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. mine — for digging
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. drill — the tool
  13. hand — in cards
  14. pit — a hole
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. drill — army training
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. shower — to wash
  20. pit — in a race
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. bat — the animal
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. shower — rain

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