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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 116 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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. mine — for digging
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. pound — a weight
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. chip — for betting
  13. wax — to grow
  14. row — a line
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. bat — the animal
  18. row — to paddle
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. fork — in a road
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. chip — to eat
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. fork — to eat with

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