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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. scale — size or range
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. last — final
  7. root — of a plant
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. root — of a word
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. wake — a trail
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. rush — hurry
  16. last — finally
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. content — happy
  19. scale — in music
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. root — the cause
  22. last — to go on
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. content — the amount

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