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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 120 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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bass — the fish
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. fine — all right
  7. bat — the animal
  8. wound — an injury
  9. ball — a dance
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. bark — to shout
  15. bass — low music
  16. game — a match
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. ball — a great time
  20. fine — high quality
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. game — wild animals

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