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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. rock — music
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. rule — a law
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. content — the amount
  7. sharp — clever
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. content — happy
  10. rule — government
  11. present — there
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. present — a gift
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bat — the animal
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. rock — a stone
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. present — the time now
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. fork — in a road

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