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

Word bank: race · fan · wound · sharp · bat · court · perch · saw

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. race — the arms race
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. court — for sport
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. court — of law
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — an injury
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. court — of a king
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. race — a contest
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. sharp — clever
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. perch — the fish
  19. bat — the animal
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. race — humankind

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