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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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: rock · hand · cell · sharp · row · bat · kick · charge

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — help
  5. rock — a stone
  6. sharp — clever
  7. row — to paddle
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cell — in biology
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. bat — the animal
  12. charge — a price
  13. row — a line
  14. rock — music
  15. kick — in football
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. charge — electricity
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. charge — in control
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. cell — in a prison

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