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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. charge — in control
  3. charge — a price
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cell — a phone
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — in sport
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cell — in biology
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. cold — not warm
  16. charge — electricity
  17. sharp — clever
  18. net — for catching
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bark — to shout
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. tear — from crying

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