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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. chest — a box
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. clip — a video
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. sharp — clever
  12. prune — to trim
  13. fork — in a road
  14. chest — of your body
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. chest — of your body
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. stem — to come from
  20. clip — for paper
  21. prune — to trim
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. clip — to cut
  24. sharp — exactly

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