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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 116 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. capital — money
  3. last — finally
  4. sharp — clever
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in biology
  7. file — a line of people
  8. branch — a division
  9. last — to go on
  10. chip — for betting
  11. last — final
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. present — the time now
  14. chip — to eat
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — a city
  18. present — there
  19. present — a gift
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. file — a document
  24. file — a tool

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