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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. track — a path
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. tear — from crying
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. clip — a video
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. tear — to rip
  14. tear — from crying
  15. track — a song
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. fork — in a road
  18. track — to keep track

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