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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pop — to visit
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. pop — music
  9. fine — high quality
  10. wind — moving air
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. tear — to rip
  13. perch — the fish
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. scale — size or range
  17. fine — all right
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — from crying
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. scale — in music
  22. pop — soda
  23. fork — in a road
  24. scale — for weighing

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