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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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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: sharp · pit · rest · content · arm · racket · bat · mine

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. content — happy
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. rest — a break
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. pit — a hole
  10. mine — for digging
  11. content — the amount
  12. bat — the animal
  13. pit — in a race
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. sharp — clever
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rest — what's left
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. racket — for tennis

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