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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 124 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.

Words on the sheet
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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spell · straw · club · date · bat · bass

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. spell — letters
  3. club — for golf
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. date — the fruit
  7. spell — a short time
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. club — a group
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. club — for dancing
  14. bass — the fish
  15. spell — magic
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bass — low music
  18. bat — the animal

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