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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. fork — in a road
  6. spring — a coil
  7. mine — for digging
  8. cue — a hint
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. band — a ring
  12. cue — a signal
  13. band — a music group
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. spring — of water
  16. sharp — clever
  17. spring — the season
  18. scale — size or range
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. cue — for pool
  21. bat — the animal
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. scale — in music
  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