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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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. fork — in a road
  4. file — a tool
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. roll — a list
  7. file — a document
  8. bound — obliged
  9. toast — bread
  10. bulb — for light
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. tear — from crying
  13. hand — help
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. bound — tied together
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. bulb — for light
  19. hand — in cards
  20. roll — a cake
  21. tear — to rip
  22. file — a line of people
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bulb — of a plant

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