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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. wind — moving air
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. chest — a box
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. cell — a phone
  16. present — there
  17. foot — a measure
  18. chest — of your body
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. cell — in biology
  22. chest — of your body
  23. present — the time now
  24. present — a gift

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