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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. suit — to fit
  3. cell — a phone
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. sharp — clever
  6. foot — a measure
  7. squash — to crush
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. shower — to wash
  14. wound — an injury
  15. chest — of your body
  16. shower — rain
  17. squash — the sport
  18. suit — in cards
  19. cell — in biology
  20. suit — clothes
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. wound — an injury
  24. sharp — exactly

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