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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. mine — for digging
  9. fork — in a road
  10. bass — low music
  11. race — humankind
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. sharp — clever
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. race — a contest
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. race — the arms race
  22. pitch — completely
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. fork — to eat with

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