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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. can — a tin
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. branch — a division
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. chest — a box
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. can — to be able to
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bat — the animal
  13. row — a line
  14. can — a tin
  15. chest — of your body
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. fork — in a road
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. row — to paddle
  21. band — a music group
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. band — a ring

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