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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. sharp — clever
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. rush — hurry
  5. deal — to handle
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. wax — to grow
  11. pitch — completely
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. mine — for digging
  20. bat — the animal
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. branch — a division
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. mine — an explosive

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