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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 124 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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. game — a match
  3. court — of law
  4. fork — in a road
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. court — for sport
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. sharp — clever
  9. scale — size or range
  10. court — of a king
  11. cell — in biology
  12. scale — in music
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. wind — moving air
  17. game — wild animals
  18. cell — a phone
  19. wind — moving air
  20. squash — to crush
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. squash — the sport
  24. wind — to turn a key

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