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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. chest — of your body
  3. court — of law
  4. cue — a signal
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. cue — a hint
  7. snap — to click
  8. court — of a king
  9. bass — the fish
  10. chest — of your body
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. cue — for pool
  13. squash — the sport
  14. chest — a box
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. bat — the animal
  19. season — of the year
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. bass — low music
  22. court — for sport
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. season — in sport

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