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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. land — a country
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. scale — size or range
  10. land — to come down
  11. field — a subject
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. scale — in music
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. field — farmland
  16. field — for sport
  17. fork — in a road
  18. land — ground

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