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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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. bank — for money
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. rock — music
  6. bank — of a river
  7. cold — an illness
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. file — a line of people
  11. rock — a stone
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. bank — for money
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. file — a tool
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wake — a trail
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. file — a document
  23. stem — to come from
  24. fork — in a road

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