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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. file — a tool
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a document
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. sharp — clever
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. bore — to drill
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. court — of a king
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. court — for sport
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. court — of law
  20. snap — to click
  21. bore — to tire
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. bat — in an idiom

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