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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 116 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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the button?
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. last — final
  5. fall — to drop
  6. hand — help
  7. last — finally
  8. fall — the season
  9. sharp — clever
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. fall — to drop
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. march — the month
  14. press — to push
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a tool
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. file — a document
  19. hand — in cards
  20. last — to go on
  21. press — a publisher
  22. march — the month
  23. march — music
  24. press — newspapers

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