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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 116 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. prune — to trim
  6. sharp — clever
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. pitch — completely
  10. cue — a signal
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cell — a phone
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — the earth
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cue — a hint
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cue — for pool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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