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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. branch — a division
  4. staff — employees
  5. craft — boats
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — child
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. craft — a skill
  13. mine — for digging
  14. dip — to sink
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. sharp — clever
  20. content — happy
  21. staff — employees
  22. content — the amount
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. staff — a stick

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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