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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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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: pitcher · cell · club · swing · bat · row · file · snap

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. swing — in golf
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. bat — the animal
  6. file — a line of people
  7. cell — in biology
  8. file — a tool
  9. row — a line
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. row — to paddle
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. swing — to play on
  16. club — for golf
  17. club — for dancing
  18. cell — a phone
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. file — a document
  23. snap — to click
  24. swing — music

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