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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. drill — the tool
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. row — to paddle
  6. roll — a list
  7. track — a path
  8. scale — in music
  9. ground — the earth
  10. drill — a practice
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. row — a line
  13. track — a song
  14. track — to keep track
  15. ground — crushed
  16. drill — army training
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. ground — a position
  19. roll — a cake
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bat — the animal
  24. scale — size or range

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