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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: hand · bat · rock · club · wound · squash · roll · drill

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. club — for dancing
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. club — a group
  6. club — for golf
  7. drill — army training
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. squash — the sport
  10. drill — the tool
  11. rock — a stone
  12. wound — an injury
  13. roll — a list
  14. roll — a cake
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wound — an injury
  17. hand — help
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. rock — music
  23. drill — a practice
  24. squash — to crush

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