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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cap — of ice
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. cap — a hat
  9. scale — size or range
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wound — an injury
  13. clip — to cut
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. clip — a video
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pass — a permit
  22. cap — a lid
  23. chest — a box
  24. scale — in music

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