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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: wake · pop · shower · roll · stick · bat · sharp · scale

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. bat — the animal
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. pop — to visit
  9. scale — in music
  10. shower — to wash
  11. sharp — clever
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. pop — soda
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. wake — a trail
  19. pop — music
  20. roll — a list
  21. scale — size or range
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. roll — a cake

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