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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. lean — thin
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. game — a match
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. chest — of your body
  12. perch — the fish
  13. chest — a box
  14. lean — to bend
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. land — a country
  17. chest — of your body
  18. sharp — clever
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. land — ground
  21. mine — for digging
  22. land — to come down
  23. branch — a division
  24. game — wild animals

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