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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. snap — to click
  3. fork — in a road
  4. game — wild animals
  5. clip — for paper
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. prune — to trim
  8. clip — a video
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. can — a tin
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. game — a match
  14. can — a tin
  15. can — to be able to
  16. net — for catching
  17. bore — to drill
  18. net — in sport
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. prune — to trim
  21. bore — to tire
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. net — after costs
  24. clip — to cut

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