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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: fan · sharp · degree · bowl · rest · bat · hand · ground

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. sharp — clever
  3. degree — temperature
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. hand — help
  6. hand — in cards
  7. ground — the earth
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. degree — from a university
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. rest — what's left
  15. ground — a position
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. rest — what's left
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. degree — an amount
  20. bat — the animal
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. rest — a break
  23. ground — crushed
  24. fan — to cool the air

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