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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. mate — a partner
  5. bat — the animal
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. mate — a friend
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. band — a music group
  10. perch — the fish
  11. mate — to breed
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. snap — to click
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. sharp — clever

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