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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. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. sharp — clever
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. last — to go on
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. last — final
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. last — finally
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. capital — money
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. rule — a law
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. jam — to spread on bread
  16. rule — government
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. capital — a city
  19. mine — for digging
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. fork — in a road
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. mine — belonging to me

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