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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: land · bat · cold · drill · rest · key · bore · bass

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. bore — to drill
  3. bass — low music
  4. key — in music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. drill — the tool
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. drill — a practice
  9. bass — the fish
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. land — a country
  14. rest — what's left
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. land — ground
  17. bat — the animal
  18. drill — army training
  19. land — to come down
  20. rest — a break
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bore — to tire
  23. rest — what's left
  24. key — the most important part

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