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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bound — tied together
  4. ball — a dance
  5. pop — music
  6. drill — the tool
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. bound — obliged
  9. drill — army training
  10. pop — to visit
  11. bat — the animal
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. ball — a great time
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. pop — soda
  20. wound — an injury
  21. drill — a practice
  22. bound — certain
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. wake — a trail

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