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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. hand — help
  5. roll — a list
  6. ball — a great time
  7. pit — in a race
  8. ground — a position
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. ground — crushed
  11. hand — in cards
  12. roll — a cake
  13. ball — a dance
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. swing — music
  16. bat — the animal
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. ground — the earth
  20. swing — in golf
  21. pit — a hole
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. swing — to play on

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