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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 116 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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. pop — music
  3. pop — soda
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. saw — the tool
  6. spell — letters
  7. pop — to visit
  8. saw — the tool
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. fork — in a road
  12. field — a subject
  13. bass — the fish
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. spell — magic
  17. shower — to wash
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. shower — rain
  20. bass — low music
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — for sport
  24. spell — a short time

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