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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bass — the fish
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. wake — a trail
  5. roll — a cake
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. object — to protest
  9. object — an aim
  10. cell — a phone
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cell — in biology
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — for sport
  15. roll — a list
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. court — of law
  19. object — a thing
  20. bass — low music
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. bat — the animal

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