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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. cold — an illness
  3. perch — the fish
  4. prune — to trim
  5. fall — to drop
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. fall — to drop
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. prune — to trim
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. cold — not warm
  13. fall — the season
  14. bass — the fish
  15. bass — low music
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. wind — moving air
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. fork — in a road
  24. calf — of the leg

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