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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 water is too ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. cold — an illness
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. squash — to crush
  12. game — a match
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. pass — a permit
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. bat — the animal
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. bass — low music
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. bass — the fish
  21. squash — the sport
  22. game — wild animals
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bat — for baseball

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