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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 124 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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. lean — thin
  4. fork — in a road
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. wound — an injury
  7. lean — to bend
  8. wound — an injury
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chip — for betting
  12. spring — of water
  13. content — the amount
  14. clip — to cut
  15. march — the month
  16. clip — a video
  17. chip — to eat
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. spring — a coil
  21. spring — the season
  22. march — the month
  23. content — happy
  24. march — music

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