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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.

Make a worksheet

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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. rash — hasty
  3. ground — crushed
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. ground — a position
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — of water
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. sharp — clever
  12. spring — a coil
  13. band — a ring
  14. ground — the earth
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. rash — a series
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. band — a music group

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