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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. saw — the tool
  3. pit — in a race
  4. pit — a hole
  5. roll — a cake
  6. saw — the tool
  7. bass — low music
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. shower — to wash
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. cold — an illness
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. shower — rain
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. roll — a list

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