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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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. bat — the animal
  3. roll — a cake
  4. capital — a city
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. bass — the fish
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. drill — army training
  12. bass — low music
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. capital — money
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. drill — a practice
  18. dip — to sink
  19. roll — a list
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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