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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 124 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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. drill — army training
  3. chip — to eat
  4. drill — a practice
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. clip — for paper
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. clip — a video
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fork — in a road
  11. chip — for betting
  12. drill — the tool
  13. race — humankind
  14. race — the arms race
  15. current — electric
  16. race — a contest
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. current — happening now
  19. mine — for digging
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. current — of water
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. bat — the animal

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