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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. staff — employees
  3. bass — low music
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. last — finally
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. bat — the animal
  11. stem — to come from
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. last — final
  15. staff — employees
  16. bass — the fish
  17. game — wild animals
  18. staff — a stick
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. wake — a trail
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. last — to go on
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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