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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.

Make a worksheet

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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. row — a line
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. fork — in a road
  8. march — music
  9. march — the month
  10. sharp — clever
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. march — the month
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. plane — a tool
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. plane — an aircraft

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