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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. prune — to trim
  3. game — wild animals
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. hand — help
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. bear — the animal
  14. game — a match
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. hand — in cards
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. bear — the animal
  21. prune — to trim
  22. file — a tool
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a document

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