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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. key — in music
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. row — to paddle
  7. row — a line
  8. kid — child
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. rule — a law
  11. rash — hasty
  12. key — for a lock
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. kid — to tease
  18. key — the most important part
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. rash — a series
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. rule — government

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