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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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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: bowl · racket · band · drill · perch · bat · mine · nail

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  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. racket — for tennis
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. band — a ring
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. drill — the tool
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. perch — the fish
  14. drill — a practice
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. band — a music group
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. mine — for digging
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. bat — the animal
  23. band — a rubber band
  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