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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. rule — a law
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. rash — a series
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. rule — government
  8. hand — help
  9. rash — hasty
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. swing — to play on
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. hand — in cards
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. swing — music
  23. swing — in golf
  24. bat — the animal

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