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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.

Words on the sheet
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: bat · fine · sharp · last · row · band · mine · rash

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. rash — a series
  4. rash — hasty
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. row — a line
  8. bat — the animal
  9. fine — high quality
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. last — finally
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. last — final
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. row — to paddle
  18. sharp — clever
  19. band — a music group
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. band — a ring
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. last — to go on

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