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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. pop — soda
  3. last — to go on
  4. field — farmland
  5. pop — to visit
  6. last — final
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. rock — a stone
  9. sharp — clever
  10. field — a subject
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. rock — music
  13. scale — size or range
  14. pop — music
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. field — for sport
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. scale — in music
  22. last — finally
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. nail — for a hammer

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