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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 120 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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. Where did you ________________ them?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. mug — a face
  3. mug — a cup
  4. mug — to rob
  5. hand — help
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. file — a document
  9. tear — from crying
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. swing — to play on
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. swing — in golf
  14. file — a tool
  15. pop — soda
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. pop — to visit
  19. file — a line of people
  20. tear — to rip
  21. hand — in cards
  22. tear — from crying
  23. swing — music
  24. bat — the animal

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