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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. mug — a face
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. last — finally
  8. chair — a leader
  9. file — a tool
  10. saw — the tool
  11. chest — of your body
  12. last — to go on
  13. chest — of your body
  14. saw — the tool
  15. file — a document
  16. sharp — clever
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. chest — a box
  19. mug — a cup
  20. file — a line of people
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. mug — to rob
  23. kick — in football
  24. last — final

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