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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 116 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: sharp · game · perch · bat · root · race · fall · cell

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. race — a contest
  4. root — of a word
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. game — a match
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cell — in biology
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — the season
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. fall — to drop
  14. root — the cause
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. race — humankind
  17. perch — the fish
  18. root — of a plant
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. race — the arms race
  24. game — wild animals

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