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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pit — in a race
  4. spell — letters
  5. hand — help
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. wind — moving air
  8. hand — in cards
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. net — for catching
  18. spell — magic
  19. net — after costs
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. spell — a short time
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. net — in sport
  24. pit — a hole

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