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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. spring — a coil
  3. sharp — clever
  4. rest — a break
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. spring — of water
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — what's left
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — crushed
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. degree — from a university
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. bark — to shout
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. snap — to click
  19. spring — the season
  20. ground — a position
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — an amount
  23. lie — to recline
  24. lie — an untruth

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