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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bat · craft · hand · clip · sharp · rule · root · kid

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  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 — with an edge
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. root — the cause
  4. sharp — clever
  5. kid — to tease
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. root — of a word
  9. root — of a plant
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. rule — government
  12. craft — boats
  13. craft — a skill
  14. clip — to cut
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bat — the animal
  18. craft — a handicraft
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. clip — a video
  22. rule — a law
  23. hand — help
  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