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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: fall · last · bat · hand · roll · ball · content · hide

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. last — finally
  3. ball — a great time
  4. roll — a list
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. last — final
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. hand — in cards
  11. last — to go on
  12. fall — to drop
  13. content — happy
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. fall — to drop
  17. ball — a dance
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. content — the amount
  20. bat — the animal
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  24. roll — a cake

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