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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. last — finally
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. net — after costs
  9. bat — the animal
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rush — hurry
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. net — for catching
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. last — final
  21. cold — not warm
  22. net — in sport
  23. last — to go on
  24. cold — an illness

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