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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 120 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 usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. bat — the animal
  3. land — a country
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. land — to come down
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. bear — the animal
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. saw — the tool
  14. band — a music group
  15. land — ground
  16. tube — a container
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. band — a ring
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bear — the animal
  21. tube — the underground
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. fork — in a road
  24. bat — for baseball

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