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

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. mate — a partner
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. band — a music group
  5. mate — a friend
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. bass — low music
  9. band — a ring
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. fork — in a road
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bass — the fish
  16. spring — of water
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. mate — to breed

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