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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. object — an aim
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. object — to protest
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. clip — to cut
  7. field — a subject
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. field — for sport
  10. sharp — clever
  11. ball — a dance
  12. object — a thing
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. rush — hurry
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. clip — a video
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. hand — help
  21. field — farmland
  22. fork — in a road
  23. ball — a great time
  24. clip — for paper

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