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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. capital — money
  3. land — ground
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. present — there
  8. land — to come down
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. fork — in a road
  11. rush — hurry
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. capital — a city
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. sharp — clever
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. snap — to click
  18. land — a country
  19. present — a gift
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. cold — an illness
  23. present — the time now
  24. sharp — exactly

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