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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 · squash · ball · row · cabinet · mine · wound · club

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. club — for golf
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. wound — an injury
  5. row — a line
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — to crush
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bat — the animal
  12. row — to paddle
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. ball — a great time
  19. club — a group
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. club — for dancing
  22. ball — a dance
  23. mine — for digging
  24. ball — a round shape

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