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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. club — for golf
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — help
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — in sport
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. rush — hurry
  13. fork — in a road
  14. chair — a leader
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. club — a group
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. clip — for paper
  19. deal — to handle
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — to cut
  22. club — for dancing
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. net — after costs

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