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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bass — low music
  3. field — farmland
  4. file — a document
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. bass — the fish
  12. row — to paddle
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. file — a line of people
  15. row — a line
  16. bat — the animal
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. snap — to click
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. field — a subject
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. field — for sport
  24. file — a tool

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