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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. drill — the tool
  3. field — a subject
  4. field — farmland
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. bulb — for light
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. field — for sport
  9. wind — moving air
  10. file — a tool
  11. fork — in a road
  12. drill — army training
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. rock — music
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. wind — moving air
  17. rock — a stone
  18. file — a line of people
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. bulb — for light
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. file — a document
  24. straw — a straw man

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