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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 124 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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. spring — a coil
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. fork — in a road
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. spring — the season
  8. sharp — clever
  9. root — of a plant
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — size or range
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. bank — for money
  17. bank — of a river
  18. spring — of water
  19. root — the cause
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wake — a trail
  22. root — of a word
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. sharp — exactly

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