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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. clip — for paper
  4. can — to be able to
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. clip — a video
  7. shower — rain
  8. wake — a trail
  9. bat — the animal
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. clip — to cut
  12. can — a tin
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. can — a tin
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. stand — to bear
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. hand — help
  21. shower — to wash
  22. hand — in cards
  23. fork — in a road
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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