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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. chair — a leader
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. fork — in a road
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. kid — to tease
  12. clip — a video
  13. season — in sport
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. season — of the year
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. pound — a weight
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. kid — child
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — to cut
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — the season

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