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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. club — for dancing
  3. bat — the animal
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. file — a line of people
  7. file — a tool
  8. club — for golf
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. sharp — clever
  11. pass — a permit
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. degree — an amount
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. file — a document
  16. degree — from a university
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. club — a group
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. degree — temperature

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