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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. fork — in a road
  3. clip — a video
  4. wind — moving air
  5. clip — to cut
  6. ground — crushed
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. rash — hasty
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. ground — a position
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. ground — the earth
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. clip — for paper
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. wind — moving air
  21. rash — a series
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. leaves — to go away

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