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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: sharp · bulb · drill · date · roll · cold · squash · bat

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. roll — a cake
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. cold — not warm
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. drill — army training
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. bat — the animal
  14. roll — a list
  15. cold — an illness
  16. drill — the tool
  17. bulb — for light
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. drill — a practice
  20. date — the fruit
  21. squash — the sport
  22. sharp — clever
  23. squash — to crush
  24. bulb — for light

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