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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. court — of law
  6. ball — a great time
  7. sharp — clever
  8. scale — size or range
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. court — of a king
  16. row — a line
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. ball — a dance
  20. scale — in music
  21. court — for sport
  22. bass — low music
  23. row — to paddle
  24. clip — a video

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