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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. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. branch — a division
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. drill — army training
  6. scale — in music
  7. shower — to wash
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. race — a contest
  10. drill — a practice
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. sharp — clever
  13. scale — size or range
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. race — humankind
  16. prune — to trim
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. race — the arms race
  20. drill — the tool
  21. shower — rain
  22. prune — to trim
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. mouse — the animal

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