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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. wound — an injury
  3. squash — to crush
  4. season — in sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. race — the arms race
  10. field — farmland
  11. field — for sport
  12. wound — an injury
  13. sharp — clever
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — humankind
  17. squash — the sport
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. branch — a division
  20. mate — a partner
  21. season — of the year
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. mate — to breed
  24. mate — a friend

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