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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. cap — of ice
  3. club — a group
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cap — a lid
  6. club — for golf
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. tear — from crying
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. squash — to crush
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. tear — from crying
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. tear — to rip
  19. cap — a hat
  20. rock — music
  21. club — for dancing
  22. squash — the sport
  23. sharp — clever
  24. rock — a stone

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