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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. scale — size or range
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — a break
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. fork — in a road
  12. scale — in music
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. mark — a trace
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. mark — a grade
  17. rest — what's left
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. sharp — clever
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — for baseball

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