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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: craft · bat · shower · snap · roll · band · rest · mate

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. mate — a partner
  4. shower — rain
  5. roll — a cake
  6. rest — a break
  7. shower — to wash
  8. rest — what's left
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. band — a music group
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. mate — a friend
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. bat — the animal
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. craft — boats
  17. craft — a skill
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. roll — a list
  20. snap — to click
  21. mate — to breed
  22. rest — what's left
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. band — a ring

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