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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: bass · hand · cell · key · bat · fork · wind · fall

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. cell — a phone
  7. fork — in a road
  8. key — for a lock
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. hand — help
  12. bass — the fish
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. cell — in biology
  15. key — in music
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bass — low music
  19. fall — the season
  20. fall — to drop
  21. key — the most important part
  22. wind — moving air
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. wind — to turn a key

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