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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: bat · roll · row · date · chest · pitcher · pit · rush

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. date — the fruit
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. pit — in a race
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. chest — a box
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. rush — hurry
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. row — a line
  15. pit — a hole
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. roll — a list
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bat — the animal
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. chest — of your body
  22. row — to paddle
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. roll — a cake

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