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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. land — a country
  3. land — ground
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. branch — a division
  6. field — farmland
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. wound — an injury
  9. kid — to tease
  10. field — for sport
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — a break
  15. field — a subject
  16. rest — what's left
  17. kid — child
  18. land — to come down
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. wound — an injury
  23. fork — in a road
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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