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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. fork — in a road
  7. pitch — completely
  8. bass — low music
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. craft — boats
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. bat — the animal
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. craft — a skill
  18. bass — the fish
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — music
  21. date — the fruit
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. trunk — of a tree

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