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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: sharp · bat · spring · spell · fan · content · perch · date

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. bat — the animal
  5. sharp — clever
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. spell — a short time
  9. perch — the fish
  10. spring — a coil
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. spring — the season
  13. content — happy
  14. content — the amount
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. date — the fruit
  20. spring — of water
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. spell — letters
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. content — videos and posts

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