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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — the animal
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. craft — a skill
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. bank — of a river
  9. bank — for money
  10. rash — hasty
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. file — a line of people
  14. craft — boats
  15. bass — low music
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — for digging
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. bank — for money
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a document
  22. wind — moving air
  23. rash — a series
  24. bass — the fish

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