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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. hand — help
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. hand — in cards
  5. staff — employees
  6. kid — child
  7. band — a ring
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. staff — a stick
  12. kid — to tease
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. pitch — completely
  16. staff — employees
  17. sharp — clever
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. band — a music group
  20. wax — to grow
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. band — a rubber band

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