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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 116 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: last · row · wound · mine · pit · chip · mate · bat

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. mate — a partner
  4. last — to go on
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — the animal
  7. last — finally
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — an injury
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mate — a friend
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. pit — a hole
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. row — to paddle
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. row — a line
  19. mate — to breed
  20. chip — for betting
  21. last — final
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. pit — in a race
  24. chip — to eat

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