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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. lean — thin
  3. march — music
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. fork — in a road
  6. club — a group
  7. tube — a container
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. cold — not warm
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. lean — to bend
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. march — the month
  15. key — for a lock
  16. key — the most important part
  17. club — for dancing
  18. cold — an illness
  19. key — in music
  20. hand — in cards
  21. hand — help
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. club — for golf
  24. march — the month

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