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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. band — a music group
  4. drill — army training
  5. spring — a coil
  6. bound — certain
  7. spell — a short time
  8. ground — the earth
  9. fork — in a road
  10. spring — of water
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. spell — letters
  13. spell — magic
  14. ground — crushed
  15. present — the time now
  16. bound — obliged
  17. ground — a position
  18. spring — the season
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. present — there
  21. bound — tied together
  22. drill — a practice
  23. band — a ring
  24. drill — the tool

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