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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 usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. spring — of water
  4. march — the month
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. content — happy
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. wax — to grow
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. fork — in a road
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. spring — a coil
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. spring — the season
  17. march — music
  18. pitch — completely
  19. march — the month
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. wake — a trail
  22. content — the amount
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. wax — for sculpting

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