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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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468
Word bank
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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: fall · sharp · ball · march · content · perch · bat · kick

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. march — music
  3. perch — the fish
  4. fall — to drop
  5. kick — in football
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — happy
  11. ball — a dance
  12. fall — to drop
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. march — the month
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. ball — a great time
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. bat — the animal
  21. march — the month
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. fall — the season

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