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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: sharp · bat · pop · stick · shower · chip · ground · stem

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. ground — a position
  4. pop — music
  5. chip — to eat
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. pop — to visit
  8. stem — to come from
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. sharp — clever
  13. shower — to wash
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. chip — for betting
  17. bat — the animal
  18. ground — crushed
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. pop — soda
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — rain
  24. ground — the earth

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