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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. sharp — clever
  3. cap — a lid
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cap — of ice
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. last — to go on
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bear — the animal
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. tear — to rip
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. last — final
  14. game — a match
  15. cap — a hat
  16. last — finally
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bear — the animal
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. game — wild animals
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. tear — from crying

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