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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. spring — a coil
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. scale — size or range
  6. fork — in a road
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. bass — the fish
  9. roll — a list
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. file — a tool
  12. mate — a friend
  13. roll — a cake
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bass — low music
  16. spring — the season
  17. file — a document
  18. mate — a partner
  19. spring — of water
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. scale — in music
  22. mate — to breed
  23. mine — for digging
  24. roll — on a roll

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