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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: drill · rock · bat · rule · game · rush · track · sharp

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. drill — army training
  3. rock — music
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. rule — a law
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. rule — government
  10. drill — the tool
  11. game — a match
  12. drill — a practice
  13. bat — the animal
  14. sharp — clever
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. track — a path
  17. track — to keep track
  18. rush — hurry
  19. track — a song
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. rock — a stone
  24. bat — for baseball

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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