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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · bat · ball · straw · root · drill · fall · saw

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. drill — a practice
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. bat — the animal
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. root — of a word
  9. game — a match
  10. root — of a plant
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. ball — a great time
  14. saw — the tool
  15. ball — a dance
  16. fall — the season
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. fall — to drop
  19. fall — to drop
  20. root — the cause
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. drill — the tool
  23. game — wild animals
  24. straw — a straw man

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