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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: game · perch · kick · bat · sharp · club · rest · mine

  1. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — a group
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. perch — the fish
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. mine — for digging
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. sharp — clever
  10. game — a match
  11. kick — in football
  12. rest — a break
  13. bat — the animal
  14. rest — what's left
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. rest — what's left
  18. game — wild animals
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. club — for dancing
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. club — for golf

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