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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: net · ball · bat · sharp · object · file · spell · dip

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. object — to protest
  3. spell — letters
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. net — after costs
  6. sharp — clever
  7. ball — a great time
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. net — in sport
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. object — a thing
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. spell — a short time
  18. net — for catching
  19. spell — magic
  20. file — a document
  21. ball — a dance
  22. dip — to sink
  23. bat — the animal
  24. file — a tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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