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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.

Make a worksheet

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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. bass — the fish
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bass — low music
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. sharp — clever
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. kick — in football
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. field — for sport
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. plane — a tool
  14. field — farmland
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. field — a subject
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. bat — for baseball

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