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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. prune — to trim
  3. prune — to trim
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. last — finally
  6. sharp — clever
  7. craft — boats
  8. last — final
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. craft — a skill
  12. wind — moving air
  13. mate — a friend
  14. scale — in music
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. tear — to rip
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. mate — to breed
  19. mate — a partner
  20. scale — size or range
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wind — moving air
  23. last — to go on
  24. tear — from crying

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