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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 116 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 usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. rock — a stone
  4. wound — an injury
  5. last — to go on
  6. land — ground
  7. land — a country
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bat — the animal
  11. clip — a video
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. rock — music
  14. last — finally
  15. wound — an injury
  16. fork — in a road
  17. clip — for paper
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. land — to come down
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. last — final

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