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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 124 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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. pop — music
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. object — an aim
  6. game — wild animals
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. file — a line of people
  9. pop — soda
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. object — a thing
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a tool
  17. mine — for digging
  18. pop — to visit
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. sharp — clever
  22. game — a match
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. object — to protest

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