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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. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. dip — to sink
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. rash — a series
  8. file — a line of people
  9. cold — not warm
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. cold — an illness
  13. sharp — clever
  14. file — a document
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. cap — of ice
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cap — a hat
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. file — a tool
  22. rash — hasty
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. cap — a lid

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