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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. clip — to cut
  4. net — in sport
  5. net — after costs
  6. chest — of your body
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. clip — for paper
  10. sharp — clever
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. prune — to trim
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. clip — a video
  17. chest — a box
  18. prune — to trim
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. chest — of your body
  22. net — for catching
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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