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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. club — for golf
  3. club — for dancing
  4. last — final
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. perch — the fish
  7. club — a group
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. spring — the season
  10. spring — of water
  11. wake — a trail
  12. bound — obliged
  13. plane — a tool
  14. bound — certain
  15. last — finally
  16. bound — tied together
  17. fork — in a road
  18. spring — a coil
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. last — to go on
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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