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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. game — a match
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — help
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. drill — a practice
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. drill — army training
  16. hand — in cards
  17. pit — a hole
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. spell — letters
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. spell — magic
  23. spell — a short time
  24. pit — in a race

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