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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: wind · hide · bat · sharp · wound · cue · fork · game

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. wind — moving air
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. cue — a signal
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. sharp — clever
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. cue — for pool
  11. game — a match
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. game — wild animals
  16. fork — in a road
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cue — a hint
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. sharp — exactly

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