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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. cell — a phone
  3. stand — to bear
  4. game — a match
  5. rest — what's left
  6. scale — in music
  7. wind — moving air
  8. sharp — clever
  9. wind — moving air
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. scale — size or range
  16. rest — what's left
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. game — wild animals
  20. rest — a break
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. cell — in biology
  24. sharp — exactly

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