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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 116 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 came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. mug — a cup
  3. clip — for paper
  4. mug — a face
  5. mug — to rob
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. hand — help
  8. march — the month
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. wound — an injury
  12. rash — a series
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. wound — an injury
  16. clip — to cut
  17. hand — in cards
  18. rash — hasty
  19. march — the month
  20. clip — a video
  21. rush — hurry
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. march — music

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