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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. staff — employees
  3. land — a country
  4. date — the fruit
  5. swing — to play on
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. wax — to grow
  8. fork — in a road
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. staff — a stick
  11. staff — employees
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. land — to come down
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. shower — to wash
  19. swing — music
  20. shower — rain
  21. chair — a leader
  22. land — ground
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. swing — in golf

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