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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. sharp — clever
  3. craft — boats
  4. ruler — a monarch
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. bat — the animal
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. spring — of water
  11. spring — the season
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. hand — help
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. spring — a coil
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. craft — a skill
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. pound — a weight
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. bat — for baseball

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