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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: pop · saw · cold · firm · bore · rush · game · bat

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. game — a match
  3. saw — the tool
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. firm — a company
  6. bat — the animal
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pop — music
  10. firm — decided
  11. cold — an illness
  12. saw — the tool
  13. pop — to visit
  14. rush — hurry
  15. firm — steady
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pop — soda
  20. game — wild animals
  21. bore — to drill
  22. bore — to tire
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bore — gave birth

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