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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 120 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. last — final
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. last — finally
  5. tube — a container
  6. last — to go on
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. sharp — clever
  9. wind — moving air
  10. tube — the underground
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. season — of the year
  15. season — in sport
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. wind — moving air
  18. tube — in a tire

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