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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — for sport
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. degree — temperature
  9. lean — to bend
  10. snap — to click
  11. degree — an amount
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. degree — from a university
  19. lean — thin
  20. wind — moving air
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. field — farmland
  23. fork — in a road
  24. sharp — with an edge

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