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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. kid — to tease
  4. net — for catching
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. scale — size or range
  9. present — the time now
  10. bat — the animal
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. kid — child
  14. scale — in music
  15. present — there
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — the fish
  19. present — a gift
  20. net — after costs
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. net — in sport
  24. perch — for a bird

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