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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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. spell — magic
  3. spell — letters
  4. bulb — for light
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — humankind
  9. bulb — for light
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. ground — the earth
  17. sharp — clever
  18. fork — in a road
  19. chest — of your body
  20. spell — a short time
  21. ground — crushed
  22. race — a contest
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. ground — a position

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