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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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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: mate · stem · bat · hand · fall · drill · wound · racket

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. mate — to breed
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. hand — help
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. drill — the tool
  8. wound — an injury
  9. drill — army training
  10. drill — a practice
  11. mate — a friend
  12. wound — an injury
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. fall — the season
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. fall — to drop
  19. hand — in cards
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. mate — a partner
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. stem — to come from
  24. fall — to drop

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