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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. wound — an injury
  4. staff — employees
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. land — a country
  10. sharp — clever
  11. staff — employees
  12. degree — from a university
  13. staff — a stick
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. wound — an injury
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. degree — an amount
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. land — ground
  22. land — to come down
  23. date — the fruit
  24. degree — temperature

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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