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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. present — a gift
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. present — the time now
  11. spring — the season
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. fork — in a road
  14. clip — a video
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. ball — a dance
  17. hand — in cards
  18. ball — a great time
  19. hand — help
  20. spring — of water
  21. clip — to cut
  22. present — there
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. spring — a coil

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