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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. dip — to sink
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. last — final
  7. march — the month
  8. object — to protest
  9. sharp — clever
  10. prune — to trim
  11. march — music
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. object — a thing
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. tube — a container
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. object — an aim
  19. tube — the underground
  20. last — finally
  21. march — the month
  22. last — to go on
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. bat — the animal

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