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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've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. branch — a division
  3. spring — the season
  4. kid — to tease
  5. season — in sport
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. season — of the year
  10. bulb — for light
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bulb — for light
  14. spring — a coil
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. spring — of water
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. kid — child

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