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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wax — to grow
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. fork — in a road
  5. hand — help
  6. perch — the fish
  7. last — finally
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. sharp — clever
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. club — for dancing
  15. spring — the season
  16. club — for golf
  17. hand — in cards
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. last — to go on
  21. club — a group
  22. spring — a coil
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. spring — of water

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