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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 116 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 ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. rest — what's left
  3. spell — magic
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. clip — for paper
  7. sharp — clever
  8. present — the time now
  9. rest — what's left
  10. rest — a break
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. spell — letters
  13. snap — to click
  14. present — a gift
  15. clip — to cut
  16. spell — a short time
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. clip — a video
  20. wind — moving air
  21. mine — for digging
  22. wind — moving air
  23. present — there
  24. sharp — with an edge

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