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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 120 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: ruler · kid · wave · hand · bat · band · mine · pit

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. bat — the animal
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. hand — help
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. mine — for digging
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. pit — a hole
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. band — a ring
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. band — a music group
  16. kid — child
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. pit — in a race
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. hand — in cards

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