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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: sharp · tear · cold · ball · bass · last · arm · kick

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. bass — low music
  4. tear — from crying
  5. sharp — clever
  6. tear — from crying
  7. ball — a dance
  8. last — final
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. cold — not warm
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. tear — to rip
  15. bass — the fish
  16. ball — a great time
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. last — finally
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. cold — an illness
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. last — to go on

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