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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. field — farmland
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. present — the time now
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. field — for sport
  14. kid — child
  15. rash — a series
  16. perch — the fish
  17. rash — hasty
  18. saw — the tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. present — a gift
  21. field — a subject
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. fork — in a road
  24. present — there

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