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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: kid · shower · sharp · perch · bat · bear · current · hand

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. shower — to wash
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. kid — to tease
  10. current — electric
  11. perch — the fish
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. current — happening now
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. hand — help
  19. current — of water
  20. hand — in cards
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. kid — child
  23. bear — the animal
  24. shower — rain

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