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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. bass — the fish
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pop — music
  5. board — to get on
  6. pop — soda
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — what's left
  12. game — a match
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. cold — not warm
  15. sharp — clever
  16. pop — to visit
  17. board — a committee
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. game — wild animals
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. rest — a break
  22. bass — low music
  23. prune — to trim
  24. board — a flat piece

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