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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cell · drill · bat · mate · swing · board

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. swing — to play on
  4. board — to get on
  5. mate — to breed
  6. bat — the animal
  7. swing — in golf
  8. drill — a practice
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. swing — music
  13. cell — in biology
  14. board — a committee
  15. mate — a partner
  16. mate — a friend
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. drill — army training

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