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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 120 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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. tube — a container
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. swing — to play on
  5. game — a match
  6. wound — an injury
  7. game — wild animals
  8. wound — an injury
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. tube — the underground
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. swing — in golf
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. bass — low music
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. bass — the fish
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. cell — in biology
  24. swing — music

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