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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. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. season — in sport
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. bulb — for light
  6. charge — electricity
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. file — a line of people
  9. charge — a price
  10. season — of the year
  11. fork — in a road
  12. cold — an illness
  13. bulb — for light
  14. file — a tool
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. charge — in control
  21. cold — not warm
  22. file — a document
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. branch — a division

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