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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 116 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. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. ball — a great time
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. file — a tool
  6. lean — thin
  7. bass — the fish
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. file — a document
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. bass — low music
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. mine — for digging
  17. pit — in a race
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. pit — a hole
  21. bat — the animal
  22. ball — a dance
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bat — in an idiom

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