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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. cold — an illness
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. wound — an injury
  9. present — a gift
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — to grow
  14. present — there
  15. sharp — clever
  16. present — the time now
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. cold — not warm
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. game — wild animals
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. wound — an injury

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