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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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468
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: bowl · spell · hide · sharp · hand · bat · racket · land

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. hand — help
  8. spell — a short time
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. land — to come down
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. sharp — clever
  14. land — a country
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. spell — letters
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. land — ground
  22. bat — the animal
  23. spell — magic
  24. bat — in an idiom

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