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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. roll — a list
  4. hand — in cards
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. roll — a cake
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. march — music
  9. march — the month
  10. pit — a hole
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. sharp — clever
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. march — the month
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. pit — in a race
  19. mark — a trace
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. hand — help
  23. mark — a grade
  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