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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. pop — soda
  3. field — farmland
  4. object — a thing
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. pop — music
  7. field — a subject
  8. object — to protest
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. cold — not warm
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. object — an aim
  13. field — for sport
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. sharp — clever
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. pop — to visit
  22. cold — an illness
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. mouse — for a computer

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