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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. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. fork — in a road
  3. clip — to cut
  4. spring — the season
  5. spring — of water
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. bass — the fish
  12. face — to confront
  13. clip — for paper
  14. spring — a coil
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. shower — rain
  17. face — part of the head
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. shower — to wash
  20. clip — a video
  21. bass — low music
  22. face — to point toward
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. lash — an eyelash

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