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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. file — a document
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. fork — in a road
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. row — a line
  7. stem — to come from
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. file — a tool
  11. mate — to breed
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. sharp — clever
  14. band — a ring
  15. mate — a friend
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. band — a music group
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. file — a line of people
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. row — to paddle

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