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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. snap — to click
  3. pit — in a race
  4. drill — army training
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bass — the fish
  8. cap — of ice
  9. drill — a practice
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. drill — the tool
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. cap — a lid
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cap — a hat
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. pit — a hole

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