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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. hand — help
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. wound — an injury
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. cap — a hat
  10. game — wild animals
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cap — a lid
  15. hand — in cards
  16. stock — shares
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. game — a match
  21. stock — goods
  22. wound — an injury
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. capital — money

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