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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 came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. hand — help
  3. last — final
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. clip — to cut
  8. clip — a video
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bear — the animal
  13. shower — rain
  14. last — to go on
  15. plane — a tool
  16. bear — the animal
  17. clip — for paper
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. last — finally
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. hand — in cards

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