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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. clip — to cut
  5. content — the amount
  6. wind — moving air
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. clip — for paper
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. content — happy
  11. bank — for money
  12. cue — a hint
  13. clip — a video
  14. cue — a signal
  15. prune — to trim
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. bank — for money
  18. cue — for pool
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bank — of a river
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. wind — moving air
  24. content — videos and posts

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