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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. land — ground
  3. land — a country
  4. capital — money
  5. race — humankind
  6. race — a contest
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. capital — a city
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. swing — in golf
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. sharp — clever
  13. race — the arms race
  14. land — to come down
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. drill — the tool
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. drill — army training
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — to play on
  23. drill — a practice
  24. arm — part of the body

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