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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  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. fork — to eat with
  2. spring — a coil
  3. game — a match
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. drill — the tool
  6. spring — of water
  7. chest — a box
  8. ground — crushed
  9. chest — of your body
  10. game — wild animals
  11. ground — the earth
  12. chest — of your body
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. spring — the season
  15. drill — a practice
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. ground — a position
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. lie — to recline
  20. deal — to handle
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. drill — army training
  23. lie — an untruth
  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