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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bulb · bark · pitcher · cell · bat · net · kid · firm

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. net — for catching
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bulb — for light
  9. net — in sport
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bark — to shout
  16. firm — decided
  17. bat — the animal
  18. net — after costs
  19. cell — in biology
  20. bulb — for light
  21. cell — a phone
  22. firm — steady
  23. firm — a company
  24. bark — of a tree

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