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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. cell — a phone
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. rush — hurry
  6. bulb — for light
  7. sharp — clever
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. clip — for paper
  12. field — for sport
  13. suit — to fit
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. clip — to cut
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. suit — in cards
  18. field — farmland
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bulb — for light
  22. clip — a video
  23. field — a subject
  24. suit — clothes

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