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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. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. mark — a grade
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. shower — rain
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. chair — a leader
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. shower — to wash
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. wake — a trail
  16. band — a ring
  17. march — music
  18. band — a music group
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. march — the month
  22. fork — in a road
  23. mark — a trace
  24. march — the month

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