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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — on a roll
  2. staff — a stick
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. roll — a list
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. prune — to trim
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. roll — a cake
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. staff — employees
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. chest — of your body
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. chest — a box
  19. bat — the animal
  20. prune — to trim
  21. chest — of your body
  22. band — a music group
  23. staff — employees
  24. band — a ring

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