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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. row — a line
  4. row — to paddle
  5. root — of a word
  6. game — a match
  7. rest — a break
  8. sharp — clever
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pit — in a race
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. rest — what's left
  14. pit — a hole
  15. current — happening now
  16. rest — what's left
  17. current — electric
  18. game — wild animals
  19. root — of a plant
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. current — of water
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. root — the cause
  24. cold — not warm

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