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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. rush — hurry
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. band — a music group
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. date — the fruit
  12. bass — the fish
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. band — a ring
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. bass — low music
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. bat — the animal
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. pitcher — a jug

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