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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 120 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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rush — hurry
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. plane — a tool
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. wind — moving air
  20. sharp — clever
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. dip — to sink
  24. rush — to hurry

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