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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. scale — in music
  8. wake — a trail
  9. row — a line
  10. bat — the animal
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. row — to paddle
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — the earth
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. ground — crushed
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. pound — a weight
  22. scale — size or range
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bat — in an idiom

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