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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. spring — a coil
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. spring — of water
  6. press — a publisher
  7. clip — for paper
  8. press — to push
  9. prune — to trim
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. spring — the season
  12. prune — to trim
  13. bark — to shout
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. clip — to cut
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. press — newspapers
  21. kick — in football
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. clip — a video
  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