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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. last — final
  3. sharp — clever
  4. last — finally
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. ground — crushed
  8. ground — a position
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. clip — for paper
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. craft — boats
  14. clip — a video
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. ground — the earth
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — magic
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. craft — a skill
  21. spell — a short time
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. clip — to cut
  24. last — to go on

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