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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 hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. mug — to rob
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. mug — a face
  6. mug — a cup
  7. season — of the year
  8. staff — a stick
  9. root — of a plant
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. capital — money
  12. staff — employees
  13. wind — moving air
  14. capital — a city
  15. root — of a word
  16. wind — moving air
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. perch — the fish
  20. sharp — clever
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. root — the cause
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. season — in sport

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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