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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 · bass · season · can · saw · row · hand · pound

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. hand — in cards
  4. season — of the year
  5. can — to be able to
  6. can — a tin
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. hand — help
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. row — a line
  13. row — to paddle
  14. bass — low music
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bass — the fish
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. can — a tin
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. season — in sport
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. pound — a weight
  24. saw — the tool

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