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

Word bank: arm · fall · bat · rule · jam · drill · kid · ball

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. ball — a great time
  3. drill — the tool
  4. kid — to tease
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bat — the animal
  7. fall — to drop
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. drill — army training
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. rule — government
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. ball — a dance
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. fall — the season
  22. kid — child
  23. rule — a law
  24. drill — a practice

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