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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 124 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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  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. stick — a piece of wood
  3. club — for golf
  4. clip — for paper
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. tear — to rip
  8. sharp — clever
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. clip — to cut
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. clip — a video
  14. tear — from crying
  15. club — for dancing
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. club — a group
  19. rule — government
  20. fork — in a road
  21. tear — from crying
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rule — a law
  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