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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. clip — for paper
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. board — to get on
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. clip — to cut
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. craft — a skill
  11. prune — to trim
  12. board — a committee
  13. prune — to trim
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. clip — a video
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. kick — in football
  18. fork — in a road

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