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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. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. prune — to trim
  3. fork — in a road
  4. spring — a coil
  5. chest — a box
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — of water
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. club — for dancing
  11. clip — to cut
  12. chest — of your body
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. clip — for paper
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. prune — to trim
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. chest — of your body
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. club — a group
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. club — for golf
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. clip — a video

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