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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. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. fork — in a road
  4. cold — an illness
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. cold — not warm
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. game — a match
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. cell — in biology
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. clip — for paper
  23. game — wild animals
  24. fan — a supporter

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