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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. game — wild animals
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. fork — in a road
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. spell — magic
  7. branch — a division
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. spell — letters
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. game — a match
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. kid — to tease
  20. mine — for digging
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. spell — a short time
  24. kid — child

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