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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. last — to go on
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bass — low music
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. rash — a series
  9. bound — obliged
  10. kid — to tease
  11. bound — certain
  12. net — after costs
  13. last — finally
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — in sport
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. bound — tied together
  18. last — final
  19. bass — the fish
  20. row — to paddle
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. row — a line
  24. rash — hasty

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