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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. suit — clothes
  3. swing — to play on
  4. clip — for paper
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. sharp — clever
  8. rule — a law
  9. rule — government
  10. clip — to cut
  11. swing — in golf
  12. kid — to tease
  13. suit — in cards
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. clip — a video
  16. fall — to drop
  17. suit — to fit
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. swing — music
  22. fork — in a road
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. kid — child

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