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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. object — a thing
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. object — an aim
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — a match
  9. prune — to trim
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. file — a tool
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. object — to protest
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. date — the fruit
  17. deal — to handle
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. file — a line of people
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. file — a document
  23. prune — to trim
  24. fork — in a road

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