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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 is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. hand — in cards
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. lean — to bend
  9. hand — help
  10. branch — a division
  11. key — the most important part
  12. scale — size or range
  13. craft — boats
  14. squash — the sport
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. key — for a lock
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. squash — to crush
  21. scale — in music
  22. craft — a skill
  23. key — in music
  24. sharp — clever

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