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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. file — a tool
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. key — for a lock
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. key — in music
  11. root — of a word
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — size or range
  14. sharp — clever
  15. ball — a dance
  16. root — the cause
  17. root — of a plant
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. file — a document
  20. ball — a great time
  21. file — a line of people
  22. key — the most important part
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. trunk — of an elephant

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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