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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  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. sharp — exactly
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. rule — government
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. kid — child
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. field — a subject
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. clip — a video
  10. field — farmland
  11. kid — to tease
  12. content — the amount
  13. field — for sport
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. clip — for paper
  16. shower — to wash
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. wound — an injury
  19. rule — a law
  20. shower — rain
  21. clip — to cut
  22. content — happy
  23. wound — an injury
  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