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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. can — to be able to
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. spring — the season
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. spring — of water
  11. can — a tin
  12. spring — a coil
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. can — a tin
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. bat — the animal
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. date — the fruit
  23. fork — in a road
  24. pitch — completely

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