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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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. craft — a skill
  4. shower — to wash
  5. wind — moving air
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. wind — moving air
  8. sharp — clever
  9. capital — a city
  10. kick — in football
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. capital — money
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. craft — boats
  16. ground — crushed
  17. rush — hurry
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. ground — the earth
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. shower — rain
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. rush — a thrill

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