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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: bat · pitcher · mine · chest · craft · kid · bore · drill

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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. mine — an explosive
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. drill — the tool
  6. kid — child
  7. craft — a skill
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. bore — to tire
  12. craft — boats
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. drill — army training
  15. mine — for digging
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bore — to drill
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. drill — a practice
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. chest — a box

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