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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: sharp · cap · pop · saw · squash · field · wound · last

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. wound — an injury
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. cap — a lid
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. saw — the tool
  9. cap — of ice
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. last — final
  12. squash — the sport
  13. pop — music
  14. saw — the tool
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — for sport
  17. pop — soda
  18. last — finally
  19. wound — an injury
  20. pop — to visit
  21. cap — a hat
  22. last — to go on
  23. field — a subject
  24. squash — to crush

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