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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. spell — a short time
  5. court — of a king
  6. bat — the animal
  7. kid — child
  8. game — wild animals
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. craft — a skill
  11. craft — boats
  12. court — for sport
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. wax — to grow
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. spell — magic
  19. kid — to tease
  20. game — a match
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. fork — in a road
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. court — of law

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