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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. present — a gift
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. present — the time now
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. rash — a series
  13. prune — to trim
  14. fork — in a road
  15. present — there
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. chair — a leader
  18. shower — to wash
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. wound — an injury
  22. rash — hasty
  23. shower — rain
  24. wound — an injury

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