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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wound — an injury
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. fall — to drop
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. fall — the season
  8. pop — soda
  9. root — of a plant
  10. fall — to drop
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. row — a line
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pop — to visit
  16. root — the cause
  17. bass — the fish
  18. bat — the animal
  19. pop — music
  20. bass — low music
  21. root — of a word
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. row — to paddle

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