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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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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: row · bat · board · sharp · file · swing · deal · hand

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. swing — to play on
  3. swing — music
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. row — a line
  7. board — a committee
  8. sharp — clever
  9. hand — in cards
  10. swing — in golf
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. bat — the animal
  14. row — to paddle
  15. file — a document
  16. hand — help
  17. file — a line of people
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. file — a tool
  21. board — to get on
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. deal — to handle
  24. bat — for baseball

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