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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 met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. shower — rain
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. saw — the tool
  5. staff — a stick
  6. staff — employees
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. kid — child
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. drill — army training
  13. kid — to tease
  14. drill — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. drill — a practice
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. shower — to wash
  20. staff — employees
  21. bat — the animal
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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