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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bass — low music
  3. staff — a stick
  4. staff — employees
  5. perch — the fish
  6. chest — of your body
  7. can — a tin
  8. staff — employees
  9. cell — a phone
  10. can — a tin
  11. chest — a box
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. cell — in biology
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. can — to be able to
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bass — the fish
  24. cell — in a prison

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