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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. degree — an amount
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. bass — the fish
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. wake — a trail
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. file — a tool
  13. degree — from a university
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. shower — rain
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. degree — temperature
  18. file — a document
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. shower — to wash
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. bass — low music
  24. file — a line of people

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