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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 124 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 came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. bass — low music
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. row — a line
  11. bat — the animal
  12. wound — an injury
  13. bass — the fish
  14. row — to paddle
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. stem — to come from
  18. bat — for baseball

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