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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: sharp · deal · race · fall · rest · bat · content · stand

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. fall — to drop
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. bat — the animal
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. rest — what's left
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. content — happy
  11. fall — to drop
  12. race — a contest
  13. race — the arms race
  14. sharp — clever
  15. deal — to handle
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. fall — the season
  18. content — the amount
  19. race — humankind
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. stand — to bear
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. rest — a break
  24. rest — what's left

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