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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. craft — a skill
  4. face — to point toward
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. fork — in a road
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a hole
  9. cold — not warm
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. craft — boats
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. clip — for paper
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. plane — a tool
  19. face — to confront
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. face — part of the head
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  24. fork — to eat with

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