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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. pop — soda
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. tube — the underground
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bass — the fish
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. bat — the animal
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. pop — to visit
  12. cell — in biology
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. cell — a phone
  15. tube — a container
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. wound — an injury
  18. jam — a tight spot
  19. wound — an injury
  20. snap — to click
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. pop — music
  24. bass — low music

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