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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. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. row — to paddle
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. clip — to cut
  5. row — a line
  6. fork — in a road
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. clip — a video
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. last — to go on
  12. file — a tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. ball — a great time
  15. last — final
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. bass — low music
  18. file — a line of people
  19. last — finally
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. file — a document
  22. ball — a dance
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. clip — for paper

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