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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. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. prune — to trim
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cell — in biology
  7. stem — to come from
  8. sharp — clever
  9. swing — in golf
  10. fall — to drop
  11. cell — a phone
  12. kick — in football
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. prune — to trim
  15. fall — the season
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. swing — music
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. swing — to play on
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. fall — to drop

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