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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. sharp — clever
  4. band — a ring
  5. degree — temperature
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. degree — an amount
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. band — a music group
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. rush — hurry
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. deal — to handle
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. wind — moving air
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. kick — in football
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. rush — a thrill

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