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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 116 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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. hand — in cards
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. field — for sport
  5. pit — a hole
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. field — a subject
  12. field — farmland
  13. fall — the season
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. snap — to click
  20. bass — low music
  21. pit — in a race
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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