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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. foot — a measure
  5. degree — temperature
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — to cut
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. charge — in control
  12. charge — a price
  13. band — a music group
  14. charge — electricity
  15. degree — from a university
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. fork — in a road
  18. clip — a video
  19. degree — an amount
  20. game — a match
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. game — wild animals
  23. mine — for digging
  24. band — a ring

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