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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. wind — moving air
  4. present — there
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. roll — a cake
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. shower — to wash
  10. content — the amount
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — a break
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. wind — moving air
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. sharp — clever
  19. shower — rain
  20. roll — a list
  21. present — a gift
  22. content — happy
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. nail — for a hammer

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