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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. mate — a partner
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. mine — for digging
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. fork — in a road
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. cap — a hat
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. cap — of ice
  17. cap — a lid
  18. mate — a friend
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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