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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. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. track — a path
  3. current — of water
  4. spell — a short time
  5. staff — a stick
  6. current — happening now
  7. current — electric
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. spell — letters
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. track — to keep track
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. season — in sport
  16. spell — magic
  17. track — a song
  18. mine — for digging
  19. staff — employees
  20. season — of the year
  21. staff — employees
  22. wax — to grow
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. sharp — clever

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