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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: cue · ground · leaves · bat · sharp · roll · tear · rash

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. cue — for pool
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. roll — a list
  5. ground — crushed
  6. tear — to rip
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bat — the animal
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. ground — a position
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. roll — a cake
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. rash — hasty
  15. rash — a series
  16. tear — from crying
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. ground — the earth
  20. tear — from crying
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. cue — a signal
  24. bat — for baseball

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