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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. band — a ring
  3. present — a gift
  4. band — a music group
  5. saw — the tool
  6. court — of a king
  7. present — there
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. cap — a lid
  10. present — the time now
  11. saw — the tool
  12. cap — a hat
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. fall — the season
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fork — in a road
  19. court — for sport
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. cap — of ice
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. court — of law
  24. sharp — exactly

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