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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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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. bat — the animal
  3. shower — rain
  4. can — to be able to
  5. ground — crushed
  6. swing — to play on
  7. sharp — clever
  8. content — happy
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. rash — a series
  12. rash — hasty
  13. swing — in golf
  14. ground — a position
  15. ground — the earth
  16. can — a tin
  17. content — the amount
  18. shower — to wash
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. swing — music
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. can — a tin

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