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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 120 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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  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. pitcher — a jug
  2. file — a line of people
  3. key — in music
  4. stand — to bear
  5. spring — the season
  6. prune — to trim
  7. spring — of water
  8. drill — a practice
  9. prune — to trim
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. drill — the tool
  15. fork — in a road
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. key — for a lock
  19. file — a tool
  20. drill — army training
  21. file — a document
  22. spring — a coil
  23. key — the most important part
  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