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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. court — of law
  3. kid — to tease
  4. court — of a king
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. tear — from crying
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — child
  10. file — a line of people
  11. tear — from crying
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. file — a tool
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. chip — to eat
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. court — for sport
  20. bark — to shout
  21. chip — for betting
  22. tear — to rip
  23. file — a document
  24. sharp — clever

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