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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. chest — of your body
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. file — a document
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. perch — the fish
  10. sharp — clever
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. chest — a box
  13. chest — of your body
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. stand — to bear
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. wake — a trail
  19. capital — money
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. capital — a city
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a line of people
  24. stand — for spectators

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