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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. bass — low music
  3. mug — to rob
  4. kid — child
  5. bat — the animal
  6. mug — a cup
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. net — after costs
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. mug — a face
  11. ground — the earth
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bass — the fish
  16. ground — crushed
  17. swing — to play on
  18. net — for catching
  19. swing — in golf
  20. swing — music
  21. ground — a position
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. bat — for 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