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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 116 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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. ground — a position
  3. saw — the tool
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. march — music
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. bear — the animal
  11. file — a tool
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. march — the month
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a line of people
  18. ground — crushed
  19. march — the month
  20. dip — to sink
  21. fork — in a road
  22. ground — the earth
  23. bear — the animal
  24. saw — the tool

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