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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. fine — all right
  4. bat — the animal
  5. content — happy
  6. mine — for digging
  7. content — the amount
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. shower — rain
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. deal — to handle
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. fine — high quality
  16. cap — of ice
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — clever
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. shower — to wash
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. cap — a hat
  23. cap — a lid
  24. bat — for baseball

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