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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. degree — from a university
  6. tear — from crying
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. clip — for paper
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. clip — a video
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. deal — to handle
  15. tear — to rip
  16. craft — boats
  17. degree — an amount
  18. sharp — clever
  19. tear — from crying
  20. degree — temperature
  21. craft — a skill
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. clip — to cut
  24. deal — an agreement

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