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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: trunk · bass · rash · fan · game · bat · bear · pitcher

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bass — the fish
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. rash — hasty
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. bass — low music
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. rash — a series
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. bear — the animal
  18. game — wild animals
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. game — a match
  24. bat — for baseball

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