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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. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. sharp — clever
  4. rush — hurry
  5. tear — to rip
  6. file — a document
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. game — wild animals
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. file — a line of people
  13. tear — from crying
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. file — a tool
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. game — a match
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bowl — a football final

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