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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. shower — rain
  4. pitch — completely
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. shower — to wash
  8. pop — to visit
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. sharp — clever
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. content — happy
  18. pop — music
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. content — the amount
  22. pop — soda
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. sharp — exactly

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