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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. 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. object — to protest
  2. object — a thing
  3. wind — moving air
  4. prune — to trim
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. mug — to rob
  7. object — an aim
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. saw — the tool
  10. mug — a face
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. prune — to trim
  13. capital — money
  14. mug — a cup
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. saw — the tool
  20. wind — moving air
  21. capital — a city
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. 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