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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  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. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. bat — the animal
  3. band — a ring
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. wound — an injury
  7. present — the time now
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. scale — size or range
  10. wound — an injury
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. band — a music group
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. craft — boats
  17. present — there
  18. craft — a skill
  19. scale — in music
  20. present — a gift
  21. pitch — completely
  22. mine — for digging
  23. scale — for weighing
  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