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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. pop — to visit
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. kid — child
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. kid — to tease
  8. cell — a phone
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. pop — soda
  11. bass — low music
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. bass — the fish
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. file — a line of people
  16. sharp — clever
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. file — a document
  19. branch — a division
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pop — music
  23. file — a tool
  24. arm — part of the body

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