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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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Word bank
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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: kick · board · hand · drill · land · bat · staff · shower

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. 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. bat — in an idiom
  2. shower — rain
  3. land — a country
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. staff — a stick
  6. hand — help
  7. land — to come down
  8. staff — employees
  9. hand — in cards
  10. land — ground
  11. drill — the tool
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. staff — employees
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. board — a committee
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. board — to get on
  18. kick — in football
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. bat — the animal
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. drill — a practice
  23. shower — to wash
  24. 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