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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. fork — in a road
  3. shower — to wash
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. spring — a coil
  6. band — a music group
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. game — wild animals
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. stock — goods
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. spring — of water
  14. shower — rain
  15. clip — for paper
  16. stock — shares
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. game — a match
  23. spring — the season
  24. stock — a soup base

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