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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. object — a thing
  6. game — wild animals
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pit — a hole
  10. tear — from crying
  11. pit — in a race
  12. mark — a trace
  13. object — an aim
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. game — a match
  16. object — to protest
  17. fork — in a road
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. roll — a list
  20. tear — to rip
  21. mark — a grade
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. roll — a cake

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