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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. fine — high quality
  5. game — a match
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. spring — of water
  8. cold — not warm
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bore — to drill
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. fork — in a road
  14. game — wild animals
  15. charge — in control
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. spring — the season
  18. spring — a coil
  19. charge — a price
  20. bore — to tire
  21. charge — electricity
  22. fine — all right
  23. wax — to grow
  24. fork — a garden tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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