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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: squash · saw · pitch · bear · sharp · cold · temple · bat

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bear — the animal
  5. cold — an illness
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. saw — the tool
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. squash — the sport
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. sharp — clever
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. saw — the tool
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. squash — to crush
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. bear — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. pitch — completely
  24. temple — a place of worship

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