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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. bass — low music
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. bank — for money
  10. content — the amount
  11. shower — to wash
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. sharp — clever
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. bank — of a river
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bank — for money
  20. bass — the fish
  21. cold — an illness
  22. shower — rain
  23. content — happy
  24. content — videos and posts

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