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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: bass · kid · face · bat · drill · jam · race · sharp

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. face — part of the head
  3. jam — in traffic
  4. kid — to tease
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. drill — the tool
  10. race — a contest
  11. kid — child
  12. face — to confront
  13. drill — army training
  14. bass — the fish
  15. race — the arms race
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. drill — a practice
  19. face — to point toward
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. jam — to spread on bread
  22. bass — low music
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — the animal

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