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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. rule — a law
  3. march — the month
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. bat — the animal
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. land — to come down
  9. land — ground
  10. sharp — clever
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. march — the month
  15. rule — government
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. land — a country
  18. march — music
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. wound — an injury

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