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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. pop — soda
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. rest — a break
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. mine — for digging
  9. pop — music
  10. rest — what's left
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. bat — the animal
  18. net — in sport
  19. pop — to visit
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — after costs
  22. rest — what's left
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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