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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: ball · sharp · kick · cold · roll · fan · mouse · ground

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. ball — a great time
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. sharp — clever
  6. roll — a cake
  7. ground — a position
  8. ground — crushed
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. ball — a dance
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. ground — the earth
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. kick — in football

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