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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. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. row — to paddle
  3. bat — the animal
  4. land — to come down
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. file — a tool
  7. face — part of the head
  8. land — a country
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. face — to confront
  11. row — a line
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. club — for golf
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. rush — hurry
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. club — for dancing
  19. file — a document
  20. club — a group
  21. land — ground
  22. file — a line of people
  23. face — to point toward
  24. fork — in a road

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