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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. season — in sport
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. clip — a video
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. can — to be able to
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fork — in a road
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wake — a trail
  14. bat — the animal
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. can — a tin
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. can — a tin
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. clip — to cut
  23. season — of the year
  24. fan — to cool the air

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