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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 124 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. There's no middle ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. tear — from crying
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — a short time
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. ground — crushed
  9. tear — to rip
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. sharp — clever
  17. ground — the earth
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. spell — magic
  22. perch — the fish
  23. tear — from crying
  24. fork — in a road

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