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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. drill — a practice
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cell — in biology
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. sharp — clever
  11. chest — of your body
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. rush — hurry
  15. drill — the tool
  16. rest — what's left
  17. cell — a phone
  18. drill — army training
  19. chest — a box
  20. wax — to grow
  21. rest — a break
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. rest — what's left
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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