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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 116 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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. perch — the fish
  4. branch — a division
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. game — wild animals
  9. court — of law
  10. rash — a series
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. court — for sport
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. fork — in a road
  15. rash — hasty
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. court — of a king

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