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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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. race — a contest
  3. season — of the year
  4. scale — in music
  5. land — to come down
  6. game — wild animals
  7. prune — to trim
  8. fork — in a road
  9. hand — help
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. scale — size or range
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. hand — in cards
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. land — ground
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. land — a country
  18. race — the arms race
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. race — humankind
  23. game — a match
  24. season — in sport

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