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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. spell — magic
  4. present — the time now
  5. present — there
  6. spell — a short time
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — a video
  12. kid — to tease
  13. clip — to cut
  14. sharp — clever
  15. kick — in football
  16. spell — letters
  17. present — a gift
  18. kid — child

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