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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 120 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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. file — a document
  3. file — a tool
  4. field — a subject
  5. file — a line of people
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. fork — in a road
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. field — farmland
  10. bank — of a river
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. rule — government
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. field — for sport
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. bank — for money
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. snap — to click
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. rule — a law
  24. bank — for money

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