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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. fall — to drop
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. saw — the tool
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — final
  8. fall — the season
  9. game — wild animals
  10. last — finally
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. hand — help
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — to rip
  16. game — a match
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. tear — from crying
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. hand — in cards
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. fall — to drop
  23. saw — the tool
  24. hand — part of the body

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