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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. field — farmland
  6. clip — to cut
  7. cap — a hat
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. cap — of ice
  10. clip — for paper
  11. rush — hurry
  12. fork — in a road
  13. field — for sport
  14. mate — to breed
  15. mate — a partner
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. field — a subject
  18. mate — a friend
  19. clip — a video
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. cap — a lid
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. tube — a container
  24. coach — a trainer

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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