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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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. rock — music
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. bass — low music
  10. bat — the animal
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. bass — the fish
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. row — a line
  16. swing — in golf
  17. row — to paddle
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. wind — moving air
  20. swing — music
  21. rock — a stone
  22. wind — moving air
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. mine — for digging

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