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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. root — of a word
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. root — of a plant
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. stick — to attach or keep to
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. bat — the animal
  10. fork — in a road
  11. file — a document
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. sharp — clever
  14. row — a line
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. perch — the fish
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. row — to paddle
  21. file — a line of people
  22. file — a tool
  23. root — the cause
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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