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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. ball — a dance
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. face — to confront
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. ball — a great time
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wind — moving air
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. face — part of the head
  15. face — to point toward
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bass — low music
  18. file — a document
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bat — the animal
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. bass — the fish
  24. file — a tool

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