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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. roll — a cake
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. face — to point toward
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. clip — to cut
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. mine — for digging
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. fork — in a road
  16. wound — an injury
  17. face — part of the head
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. clip — a video
  21. wound — an injury
  22. face — to confront
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. roll — a list

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