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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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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: saw · patient · drill · wind · snap · date · key · bat

  1. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bat — the animal
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. date — the fruit
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. drill — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. drill — a practice
  14. wind — moving air
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. wind — moving air
  17. saw — the tool
  18. snap — to click
  19. key — in music
  20. saw — the tool
  21. key — the most important part
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. drill — army training

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