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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. root — of a plant
  4. mine — for digging
  5. scale — size or range
  6. bass — low music
  7. bat — the animal
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. net — after costs
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. root — the cause
  12. bass — the fish
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. board — to get on
  16. root — of a word
  17. net — for catching
  18. board — a committee
  19. net — in sport
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. scale — in music
  24. bat — in an idiom

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