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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: prune · cold · racket · bat · present · content · bass · saw

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. saw — the tool
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. present — a gift
  6. content — the amount
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. prune — to trim
  9. saw — the tool
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. cold — not warm
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. present — the time now
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. prune — to trim
  19. content — happy
  20. bass — the fish
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bass — low music
  23. cold — an illness
  24. present — there

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