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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 office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. hand — help
  3. bat — the animal
  4. fall — the season
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bass — low music
  8. fine — all right
  9. hand — in cards
  10. staff — a stick
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fine — high quality
  15. bass — the fish
  16. staff — employees
  17. bore — to drill
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. bore — to tire
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. fall — to drop
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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