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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  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. last — to go on
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. net — in sport
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. kid — child
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. mark — a trace
  8. craft — a skill
  9. kid — to tease
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. fall — to drop
  12. mark — a grade
  13. scale — in music
  14. fall — to drop
  15. last — finally
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. fork — in a road
  18. scale — size or range
  19. craft — boats
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. last — final
  22. net — for catching
  23. fall — the season
  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