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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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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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. sharp — clever
  4. tear — from crying
  5. fork — in a road
  6. tear — from crying
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. tear — to rip
  10. chest — a box
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — for catching
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. perch — the fish
  18. net — after costs

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