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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. drill — army training
  3. rash — a series
  4. dip — to sink
  5. land — ground
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. rock — music
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rest — a break
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. hand — help
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — a practice
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. bat — the animal
  18. rock — a stone
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. land — to come down
  21. rest — what's left
  22. hand — in cards
  23. rest — what's left
  24. land — a country

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