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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 116 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. object — to protest
  4. cold — not warm
  5. object — a thing
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. sharp — clever
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ball — a dance
  12. object — an aim
  13. cold — an illness
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. field — farmland
  17. deal — to handle
  18. deal — an agreement
  19. chair — a leader
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. ball — a great time
  22. fork — in a road
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — for sport

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