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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 116 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. sharp — clever
  3. march — the month
  4. last — to go on
  5. march — music
  6. prune — to trim
  7. file — a line of people
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. last — finally
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. last — final
  14. file — a document
  15. prune — to trim
  16. file — a tool
  17. deal — to handle
  18. march — the month

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