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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. 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. rush — to hurry
  2. wound — an injury
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. track — a path
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. sharp — clever
  7. ground — a position
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. bowl — a football final
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. track — to keep track
  12. ground — crushed
  13. ground — the earth
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. track — a song
  17. bat — the animal
  18. rush — hurry
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. 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