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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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. coach — pulled by horses
  4. drill — the tool
  5. bear — the animal
  6. clip — a video
  7. tube — a container
  8. clip — to cut
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. sharp — clever
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. drill — army training
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. clip — for paper
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. land — ground
  18. tube — the underground
  19. land — to come down
  20. bear — the animal
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. land — a country
  24. drill — a practice

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