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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wound — an injury
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. sharp — clever
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. degree — from a university
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. saw — the tool
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pit — in a race
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. saw — the tool
  19. degree — an amount
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. hand — help
  22. degree — temperature
  23. fork — in a road
  24. hand — in cards

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