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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. spell — letters
  3. race — a contest
  4. saw — the tool
  5. last — finally
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. prune — to trim
  9. last — to go on
  10. file — a tool
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. spell — a short time
  13. saw — the tool
  14. spell — magic
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — humankind
  17. deal — to handle
  18. file — a document
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. last — final
  24. file — a line of people

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