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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. hand — in cards
  3. prune — to trim
  4. spring — a coil
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. sharp — clever
  7. prune — to trim
  8. spring — of water
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. hand — help
  11. capital — money
  12. land — a country
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. kick — in football
  15. capital — a city
  16. spring — the season
  17. land — to come down
  18. rule — government
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. land — ground
  24. rule — a law

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