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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 116 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. pop — music
  4. charge — electricity
  5. mate — to breed
  6. bass — the fish
  7. pop — to visit
  8. file — a tool
  9. row — to paddle
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. file — a line of people
  13. row — a line
  14. mine — for digging
  15. mate — a friend
  16. charge — a price
  17. mate — a partner
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. charge — in control
  20. file — a document
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. pop — soda
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bass — low music

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