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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: bat · bark · charge · date · band · sharp · ball · march

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. bark — to shout
  3. band — a music group
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. march — music
  6. march — the month
  7. bat — the animal
  8. march — the month
  9. ball — a great time
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. date — the fruit
  15. charge — in control
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. charge — a price
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. ball — a dance
  20. band — a ring
  21. sharp — clever
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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