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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. field — a subject
  3. cap — of ice
  4. cap — a hat
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. bat — the animal
  9. tube — the underground
  10. fork — in a road
  11. face — to point toward
  12. cap — a lid
  13. face — to confront
  14. face — part of the head
  15. field — for sport
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — in cards
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. field — farmland
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. prune — to trim
  23. tube — a container
  24. bat — in an idiom

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