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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 120 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. capital — a city
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. foot — a measure
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. game — a match
  9. capital — money
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. sharp — clever
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cold — not warm
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. game — wild animals

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