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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. pitch — completely
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. sharp — clever
  6. last — final
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. chest — a box
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. swing — to play on
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. swing — music
  13. rash — a series
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. chest — of your body
  16. swing — in golf
  17. rash — hasty
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. deal — to handle
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. chest — of your body
  22. last — finally
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. last — to go on

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