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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. face — part of the head
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — a phone
  8. fork — in a road
  9. bat — the animal
  10. craft — boats
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. hand — in cards
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. hand — help
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. face — to confront
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. face — to point toward
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. craft — a skill
  24. bat — for baseball

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