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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. bat — the animal
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. rock — a stone
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. last — to go on
  11. net — in sport
  12. firm — a company
  13. firm — steady
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — after costs
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. mine — for digging
  18. rock — music
  19. last — finally
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. last — final
  23. firm — decided
  24. mine — belonging to me

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