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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. net — in sport
  3. roll — a cake
  4. last — final
  5. pop — to visit
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. ball — a dance
  9. chair — a leader
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. net — for catching
  13. pop — soda
  14. last — to go on
  15. net — after costs
  16. craft — a skill
  17. ball — a great time
  18. craft — boats
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. pop — music
  23. bat — the animal
  24. roll — a list

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