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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. wind — moving air
  3. root — of a word
  4. land — ground
  5. fall — to drop
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. lean — thin
  8. land — a country
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. root — the cause
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. net — after costs
  13. land — to come down
  14. net — for catching
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. net — in sport
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. root — of a plant
  19. lean — to bend
  20. wind — moving air
  21. fall — the season
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. sharp — clever
  24. fall — to drop

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