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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. content — happy
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. key — the most important part
  6. field — for sport
  7. wound — an injury
  8. key — for a lock
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. key — in music
  11. field — farmland
  12. wake — a trail
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. field — a subject
  16. game — wild animals
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. plane — a tool
  21. game — a match
  22. sharp — clever
  23. content — the amount
  24. wound — an injury

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