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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.

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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: wake · date · net · bat · shower · bass

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. net — for catching
  3. date — the fruit
  4. wake — a trail
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. bass — the fish
  12. shower — to wash
  13. net — in sport
  14. shower — rain
  15. bass — low music
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. bat — the animal
  18. shower — a meteor shower

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