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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 116 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: bat · safe · land · bass · mine · perch · sharp · band

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. mine — for digging
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. sharp — clever
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. bass — low music
  8. land — to come down
  9. band — a music group
  10. land — ground
  11. perch — the fish
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. bass — the fish
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. land — a country
  19. band — a ring
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bat — the animal
  24. perch — for a bird

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