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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. fork — in a road
  4. clip — a video
  5. bass — the fish
  6. field — farmland
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. clip — to cut
  9. field — for sport
  10. clip — for paper
  11. root — of a plant
  12. face — to confront
  13. field — a subject
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. root — of a word
  16. bass — low music
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. face — to point toward
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. face — part of the head
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. pound — a weight
  24. root — the cause

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