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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. scale — size or range
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. scale — in music
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. field — for sport
  10. current — electric
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. field — farmland
  15. current — of water
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. current — happening now
  22. field — a subject
  23. kid — child
  24. sharp — exactly

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