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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. craft — boats
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. wind — moving air
  5. chip — to eat
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wind — moving air
  10. craft — a skill
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. row — a line
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. sharp — clever
  16. rock — music
  17. firm — decided
  18. firm — steady
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. chip — for betting
  22. rock — a stone
  23. firm — a company
  24. row — to paddle

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