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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. kick — in football
  7. drill — a practice
  8. bat — the animal
  9. prune — to trim
  10. cell — a phone
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. season — of the year
  13. season — in sport
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. drill — army training
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. pound — a weight
  20. fork — in a road
  21. drill — the tool
  22. cell — in biology
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. prune — the fruit

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