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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. bass — the fish
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. rash — hasty
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. bass — low music
  16. sharp — clever
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. date — the fruit
  20. pound — a weight
  21. fork — in a road
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. rash — a series

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