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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. file — a line of people
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. pit — in a race
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — the season
  8. band — a music group
  9. mate — a friend
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. club — a group
  12. band — a ring
  13. mate — to breed
  14. mate — a partner
  15. club — for golf
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. club — for dancing
  18. pit — a hole
  19. file — a document
  20. hand — help
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. hand — in cards
  23. spring — of water
  24. file — a tool

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