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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. fall — the season
  4. prune — to trim
  5. march — the month
  6. march — the month
  7. fall — to drop
  8. wind — moving air
  9. sharp — clever
  10. fall — to drop
  11. bore — to tire
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. race — the arms race
  14. wind — moving air
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. bore — to drill
  17. race — humankind
  18. mine — for digging
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. march — music
  22. prune — to trim
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. race — a contest

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