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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: leaves · ruler · chest · drill · cold · pitcher · bat · lean

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. lean — thin
  3. chest — of your body
  4. drill — the tool
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. chest — of your body
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. lean — to bend
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — the animal
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. drill — a practice
  19. cold — not warm
  20. drill — army training
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chest — a box
  24. ruler — for measuring

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