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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: clip · scale · stick · deal · last · rush · sharp · mine

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. clip — for paper
  6. scale — in music
  7. scale — size or range
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mine — for digging
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. last — finally
  17. clip — to cut
  18. last — to go on
  19. sharp — clever
  20. deal — to handle
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. last — final
  23. clip — a video
  24. deal — a big deal

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