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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: shower · arm · sharp · cell · charge · wake · present · bat

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. cell — a phone
  4. charge — a price
  5. sharp — clever
  6. bat — the animal
  7. cell — in biology
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. wake — a trail
  12. charge — electricity
  13. present — there
  14. charge — in control
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. shower — rain
  18. present — a gift
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. shower — to wash

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