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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: row · sharp · bat · cell · drill · root · chest · bound

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. root — the cause
  3. row — to paddle
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bat — the animal
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bound — certain
  8. sharp — clever
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bound — obliged
  11. cell — in biology
  12. chest — of your body
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. row — a line
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. drill — army training
  19. root — of a word
  20. cell — a phone
  21. drill — the tool
  22. bound — tied together
  23. root — of a plant
  24. chest — a box

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