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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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Word bank
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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. file — a document
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. deal — to handle
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. root — of a word
  10. file — a tool
  11. mine — for digging
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. march — the month
  16. perch — the fish
  17. march — the month
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. fork — in a road
  21. root — the cause
  22. root — of a plant
  23. file — a line of people
  24. march — music

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