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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. last — finally
  3. row — to paddle
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. clip — for paper
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — a break
  12. ball — a dance
  13. fork — in a road
  14. scale — size or range
  15. clip — to cut
  16. last — to go on
  17. row — a line
  18. scale — in music
  19. rest — what's left
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. clip — a video
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. last — final
  24. ball — a great 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