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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: jam · can · hand · kid · bat · pop · drill · pitcher

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. can — to be able to
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. kid — child
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pop — music
  9. bat — the animal
  10. hand — help
  11. drill — a practice
  12. pop — to visit
  13. drill — the tool
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. pop — soda
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. drill — army training
  22. kid — to tease
  23. can — a tin
  24. can — a tin

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