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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. band — a ring
  5. current — happening now
  6. band — a music group
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — rain
  10. drill — a practice
  11. scale — in music
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. scale — size or range
  15. lean — to bend
  16. current — electric
  17. game — a match
  18. current — of water
  19. lean — thin
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. sharp — clever
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — army training

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