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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 120 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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. wind — moving air
  4. season — of the year
  5. object — to protest
  6. clip — to cut
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. sharp — clever
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wind — moving air
  11. saw — the tool
  12. band — a ring
  13. vault — a safe
  14. season — in sport
  15. band — a music group
  16. saw — the tool
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. object — an aim
  19. object — a thing
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. clip — a video
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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