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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: ground · wind · wound · object · racket · hand · sharp · mark

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. wind — moving air
  6. hand — help
  7. ground — crushed
  8. object — an aim
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. ground — a position
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wind — moving air
  15. object — to protest
  16. object — a thing
  17. wound — an injury
  18. sharp — clever
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. mark — a trace
  22. mark — a grade
  23. ground — the earth
  24. hand — in cards

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