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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 120 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 haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. march — music
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. cell — a phone
  5. march — the month
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. scale — in music
  12. cell — in biology
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. chair — a leader
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. file — a tool
  18. bowl — a football final
  19. scale — size or range
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. file — a document
  22. file — a line of people
  23. march — the month
  24. chair — to sit on

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