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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. ground — a position
  4. net — after costs
  5. net — in sport
  6. net — for catching
  7. ground — the earth
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. face — part of the head
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. ground — crushed
  13. mine — for digging
  14. wake — a trail
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. face — to confront
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. hand — help
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. face — to point toward
  24. hand — in cards

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