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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 fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. bat — the animal
  3. staff — a stick
  4. band — a music group
  5. object — to protest
  6. roll — a list
  7. object — an aim
  8. roll — a cake
  9. bass — low music
  10. rash — hasty
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. staff — employees
  14. band — a ring
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. object — a thing
  20. plane — a tool
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. rash — a series
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. staff — employees

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