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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. branch — a division
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. date — the fruit
  7. rash — a series
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. bulb — for light
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. file — a line of people
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. bulb — for light
  16. rash — hasty
  17. row — a line
  18. file — a document
  19. row — to paddle
  20. file — a tool
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. sharp — clever
  23. perch — the fish
  24. perch — for a bird

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