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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. toast — bread
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. band — a ring
  7. rule — government
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. bat — the animal
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. rule — a law
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. net — for catching
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. hand — help
  16. hand — in cards
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. band — a music group
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. net — in sport
  21. pitch — completely
  22. net — after costs
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. toast — the most admired

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