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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. game — wild animals
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to click
  6. clip — a video
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. bore — to tire
  9. bass — low music
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. spring — the season
  13. clip — for paper
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. spring — a coil
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. spring — of water
  19. game — a match
  20. fork — in a road
  21. bore — to drill
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. bass — the fish

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