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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. club — for dancing
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. club — for golf
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. bat — the animal
  8. last — final
  9. cell — in biology
  10. last — finally
  11. last — to go on
  12. perch — the fish
  13. hand — help
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. club — a group
  16. cell — a phone
  17. roll — a cake
  18. hand — in cards
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. roll — a list
  22. foot — a measure
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. hand — part of the body

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