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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. hand — in cards
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. net — after costs
  6. root — the cause
  7. hand — help
  8. root — of a word
  9. root — of a plant
  10. saw — the tool
  11. kid — child
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. bass — low music
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. saw — the tool
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bass — the fish
  21. net — for catching
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. cell — in biology
  24. cell — a phone

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