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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. pit — a hole
  3. sharp — clever
  4. scale — size or range
  5. cell — a phone
  6. cell — in biology
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — a line
  11. chest — of your body
  12. scale — in music
  13. board — a committee
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. chest — a box
  16. row — to paddle
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. pit — in a race
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. board — to get on
  24. mouse — the animal

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