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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. net — in sport
  7. scale — size or range
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. wake — a trail
  10. fall — to drop
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. fall — the season
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. file — a line of people
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. bat — the animal
  18. net — for catching
  19. file — a tool
  20. fall — to drop
  21. net — after costs
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. scale — in music
  24. file — a document

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