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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 116 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: saw · sharp · capital · pop · stem · hand · prune · drill

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — help
  4. stem — to come from
  5. capital — a city
  6. hand — in cards
  7. pop — soda
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. saw — the tool
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. capital — money
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. prune — to trim
  16. drill — the tool
  17. pop — music
  18. sharp — clever
  19. drill — a practice
  20. saw — the tool
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. pop — to visit
  23. drill — army training
  24. prune — to trim

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