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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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. club — for dancing
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. mine — for digging
  7. club — for golf
  8. march — the month
  9. lean — to bend
  10. dip — to sink
  11. lean — thin
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. fork — in a road
  20. present — a gift
  21. club — a group
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. present — there

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