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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. rush — hurry
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. clip — a video
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. shower — to wash
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. clip — to cut
  17. key — the most important part
  18. key — in music
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. key — for a lock
  22. game — wild animals
  23. fork — in a road
  24. game — a kind of play

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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