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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 120 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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. scale — in music
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. sharp — clever
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. bat — the animal
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. perch — the fish
  19. hand — help
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. scale — size or range

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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