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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 116 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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. squash — to crush
  6. lean — thin
  7. squash — the sport
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a tool
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. row — to paddle
  12. shower — to wash
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. staff — employees
  17. file — a document
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. lean — to bend
  21. row — a line
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — a stick
  24. squash — the vegetable

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