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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. net — after costs
  4. kid — to tease
  5. fork — in a road
  6. bound — obliged
  7. kid — child
  8. pitch — completely
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. net — for catching
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bound — certain
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. bat — the animal
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. net — in sport
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. wake — a trail
  22. bound — tied together
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — an injury

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