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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. field — for sport
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pop — music
  7. clip — a video
  8. pop — soda
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. field — farmland
  11. sharp — clever
  12. last — finally
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. branch — a division
  15. last — final
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. clip — to cut
  18. field — a subject
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. kick — in football
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. last — to go on
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. pop — to visit

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