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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: race · kid · pop · fan · rush · bass · bat · saw

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bass — the fish
  7. pop — to visit
  8. rush — hurry
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. kid — child
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. kid — to tease
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. pop — soda
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. pop — music
  19. race — a contest
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. race — the arms race
  22. bass — low music
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. race — humankind

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