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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fork — in a road
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. row — to paddle
  6. swing — to play on
  7. field — for sport
  8. swing — in golf
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. swing — music
  11. ground — a position
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. field — farmland
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. ground — the earth
  18. field — a subject
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. kick — in football
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. branch — a division
  23. ground — crushed
  24. row — a line

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