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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. branch — a division
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. game — a match
  8. fork — in a road
  9. game — wild animals
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. cold — not warm
  17. date — the fruit
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. craft — a skill
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. date — on the calendar

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