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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. game — wild animals
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. pit — in a race
  7. last — to go on
  8. object — a thing
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. date — the fruit
  12. game — a match
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bass — low music
  15. object — an aim
  16. bat — the animal
  17. object — to protest
  18. last — finally
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. bass — the fish
  22. last — final
  23. pit — a hole
  24. bass — the instrument

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