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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: object · bat · hide · drill · kick · saw · hand · snap

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  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. hide — animal skin
  2. drill — a practice
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. saw — the tool
  6. object — to protest
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. saw — the tool
  9. hand — help
  10. drill — the tool
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. kick — in football
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. snap — to click
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. bat — the animal
  19. object — a thing
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. object — an aim
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hide — to keep secret
  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