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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 120 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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. swing — in golf
  4. sharp — clever
  5. ground — crushed
  6. pop — to visit
  7. ground — a position
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. swing — to play on
  11. saw — the tool
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. pop — soda
  16. kid — to tease
  17. swing — music
  18. kid — child
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. ground — the earth
  22. pop — music
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. trunk — of a car

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