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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 120 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. saw — the tool
  10. stock — shares
  11. club — for dancing
  12. club — a group
  13. stock — goods
  14. wound — an injury
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. fork — in a road
  17. plane — a tool
  18. wound — an injury
  19. saw — the tool
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. kick — in football
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. plane — an aircraft

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