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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: board · bat · drill · shower · cold · pitch · pitcher · deal

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. drill — army training
  3. cold — not warm
  4. deal — to handle
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. drill — a practice
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. shower — to wash
  11. board — to get on
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. board — a committee
  14. pitch — completely
  15. bat — the animal
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. drill — the tool
  18. shower — rain
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. cold — an illness
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. bat — in an idiom

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