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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: saw · bat · file · pop · club · pound · cold · sharp

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. bat — the animal
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. club — a group
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. file — a document
  11. club — for dancing
  12. pop — to visit
  13. sharp — clever
  14. pop — soda
  15. file — a line of people
  16. pound — a weight
  17. saw — the tool
  18. pop — music
  19. club — for golf
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. saw — the tool
  24. file — a tool

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