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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 124 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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. last — to go on
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. fork — in a road
  5. file — a tool
  6. spring — of water
  7. chair — a leader
  8. last — final
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. last — finally
  11. spring — the season
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. hand — in cards
  17. band — a music group
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. file — a line of people
  20. spring — a coil
  21. hand — help
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. file — a document
  24. band — a ring

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