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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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. land — a country
  4. rash — a series
  5. land — to come down
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. mine — for digging
  12. rash — hasty
  13. fall — the season
  14. bark — to shout
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. fork — in a road
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. fall — to drop
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. sharp — clever
  22. land — ground
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. fall — to drop

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