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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. object — a thing
  3. shower — rain
  4. shower — to wash
  5. field — farmland
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. present — there
  10. mate — a friend
  11. mate — a partner
  12. object — to protest
  13. wound — an injury
  14. mate — to breed
  15. present — a gift
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. wound — an injury
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. present — the time now
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — in music
  22. object — an aim
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — for sport

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