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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 120 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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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 · cold · ruler · mine · drill · cabinet · chip · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. mine — for digging
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. tear — to rip
  8. bat — the animal
  9. drill — army training
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. chip — to eat
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. chip — for betting
  20. tear — from crying
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — a practice

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