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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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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: row · shower · sharp · bat · kid · suit · land · lie

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. sharp — clever
  3. suit — clothes
  4. shower — to wash
  5. bat — the animal
  6. suit — in cards
  7. row — to paddle
  8. kid — child
  9. row — a line
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. suit — to fit
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — a country
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. land — ground
  20. kid — to tease
  21. lie — to recline
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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