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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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. swing — to play on
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. fork — in a road
  7. degree — from a university
  8. chair — a leader
  9. march — the month
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. degree — temperature
  13. sharp — clever
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. swing — in golf
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. march — the month
  19. degree — an amount
  20. swing — music
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. march — music
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. fork — to eat with

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