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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: game · scale · branch · last · hand · sharp · file · wake

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. file — a document
  7. hand — in cards
  8. last — final
  9. last — finally
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. scale — in music
  12. last — to go on
  13. wake — a trail
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. hand — help
  16. game — a match
  17. sharp — clever
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. game — wild animals
  20. branch — a division
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. scale — size or range
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a line of people

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