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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. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. cold — an illness
  5. spring — a coil
  6. current — of water
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. scale — in music
  9. key — the most important part
  10. wound — an injury
  11. current — happening now
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — the season
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. key — for a lock
  16. cold — not warm
  17. current — electric
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. key — in music
  20. fork — in a road
  21. wound — an injury
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. plane — a tool
  24. scale — size or range

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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