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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 120 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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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 · present · prune · bass · racket · wake · cold · cell

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. bat — the animal
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. present — a gift
  5. present — the time now
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. bass — the fish
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. wake — a trail
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. cell — in biology
  15. prune — to trim
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. present — there
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bass — low music
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. prune — to trim

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