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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. march — music
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. kick — in football
  8. hand — in cards
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. sharp — clever
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. rash — a series
  13. rash — hasty
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. wake — a trail
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. hand — help
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. march — the month
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. march — the month

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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