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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 116 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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. rash — a series
  3. plane — a tool
  4. object — to protest
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. wind — moving air
  7. court — of law
  8. sharp — clever
  9. race — a contest
  10. court — for sport
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. court — of a king
  13. race — humankind
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. wind — moving air
  17. fork — in a road
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. rash — hasty
  20. object — an aim
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. race — the arms race
  24. object — a thing

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