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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: rash · club · date · bat · wound · pitcher · game · roll

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. roll — a list
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. club — a group
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. rash — a series
  9. game — wild animals
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. game — a match
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. wound — an injury
  14. roll — a cake
  15. club — for golf
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. date — the fruit
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. club — for dancing
  21. rash — hasty
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. wound — an injury
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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