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

Word bank: patient · sharp · tear · staff · chip · wound · last · cell

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. staff — employees
  3. chip — to eat
  4. tear — from crying
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. chip — for betting
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. sharp — clever
  12. last — final
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. staff — employees
  15. last — to go on
  16. cell — a phone
  17. wound — an injury
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. last — finally
  21. tear — to rip
  22. cell — in biology
  23. staff — a stick
  24. wound — an injury

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