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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: bat · track · bark · squash · foot · date · bass · press

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. squash — to crush
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. track — a song
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. foot — a measure
  9. bass — low music
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. press — a publisher
  12. bark — to shout
  13. bat — the animal
  14. date — the fruit
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. foot — part of the body
  17. bass — the fish
  18. track — a path
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. track — to keep track
  22. press — newspapers
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. press — to push

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