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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. hand — help
  3. spell — magic
  4. spell — letters
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. hand — in cards
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. net — in sport
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. fine — high quality
  13. pit — a hole
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. spell — a short time
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. scale — in music
  18. bat — the animal
  19. net — for catching
  20. fine — all right
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. net — after costs
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. pit — in a race

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