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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  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 — a garden tool
  2. pop — music
  3. land — to come down
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. row — a line
  7. ball — a great time
  8. ball — a dance
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. land — ground
  12. march — the month
  13. pop — soda
  14. row — to paddle
  15. net — in sport
  16. net — for catching
  17. land — a country
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. march — music
  20. march — the month
  21. pop — to visit
  22. snap — to click
  23. net — after costs
  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