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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Did you ________________ the button?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. mate — a partner
  3. wind — moving air
  4. net — for catching
  5. press — a publisher
  6. land — ground
  7. press — newspapers
  8. mate — to breed
  9. pound — a weight
  10. net — in sport
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. press — to push
  16. date — the fruit
  17. mate — a friend
  18. net — after costs
  19. land — a country
  20. fork — in a road
  21. wind — moving air
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. land — to come down
  24. date — on the calendar

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