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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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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: kick · bass · cell · staff · kid · bat

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. staff — employees
  4. cell — a phone
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. kick — in football
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. bass — low music
  14. kid — child
  15. bass — the fish
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. staff — employees
  18. cell — in biology

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