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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. clip — for paper
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. rash — a series
  7. ground — the earth
  8. fall — to drop
  9. prune — to trim
  10. rash — hasty
  11. fall — the season
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. ground — crushed
  14. file — a document
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. bore — to drill
  18. ground — a position
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — a video
  21. bore — to tire
  22. file — a line of people
  23. fork — in a road
  24. file — a tool

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