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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. sharp — clever
  4. fork — in a road
  5. track — a song
  6. roll — a cake
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cap — a hat
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. track — to keep track
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. cap — a lid
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. track — a path
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. roll — a list
  18. roll — on a roll

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