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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. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. charge — in control
  3. cell — in biology
  4. stem — to come from
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. sharp — clever
  7. squash — the sport
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. rash — hasty
  11. wind — moving air
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. wind — moving air
  14. face — to point toward
  15. charge — electricity
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. face — to confront
  19. charge — a price
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. rash — a series
  22. face — part of the head
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. cell — a phone

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