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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: chest · cap · sharp · bay · hand · wound · clip · track

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. chest — a box
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a lid
  8. track — to keep track
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. sharp — clever
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — to cut
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. cap — a hat
  16. track — a path
  17. hand — help
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. wound — an injury
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. track — a song
  23. wound — an injury
  24. chest — of your body

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