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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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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: kick · file · tear · bat · ball · mine · firm · sharp

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. firm — a company
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bat — the animal
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. ball — a dance
  10. sharp — clever
  11. mine — for digging
  12. kick — in football
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. file — a tool
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. file — a document
  18. firm — decided
  19. firm — steady
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. ball — a great time
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. file — a line of people

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