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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 116 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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. can — a tin
  6. pop — soda
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. can — to be able to
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. pop — music
  11. craft — a skill
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. cold — an illness
  14. craft — boats
  15. pop — to visit
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. cold — not warm
  19. scale — in music
  20. scale — size or range
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. can — a tin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. scale — for weighing

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