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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: sharp · cell · dip · bat · content · march · foot · club

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. sharp — clever
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. dip — to sink
  10. content — the amount
  11. march — music
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. content — happy
  14. march — the month
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. cell — a phone
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. foot — a measure
  19. march — the month
  20. club — for golf
  21. cell — in biology
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. club — a group

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