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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. clip — for paper
  4. club — for golf
  5. fork — in a road
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. hand — in cards
  8. object — to protest
  9. current — electric
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. current — of water
  12. current — happening now
  13. object — an aim
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. hand — help
  16. object — a thing
  17. band — a music group
  18. clip — a video
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. band — a ring
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. club — a group
  23. clip — to cut
  24. club — for dancing

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