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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. net — in sport
  4. last — finally
  5. track — a path
  6. swing — music
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. row — to paddle
  9. saw — the tool
  10. sharp — clever
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. net — after costs
  13. rash — hasty
  14. track — to keep track
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. swing — to play on
  17. last — final
  18. row — a line
  19. swing — in golf
  20. last — to go on
  21. saw — the tool
  22. track — a song
  23. rash — a series
  24. net — for catching

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