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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: arm · bat · roll · swing · row · pitcher · wound · ball

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. roll — a cake
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. roll — a list
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. row — to paddle
  7. ball — a dance
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. bat — the animal
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. swing — to play on
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. swing — music
  16. wound — an injury
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. swing — in golf
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. ball — a great time
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. row — a line
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. bat — in an idiom

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