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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. mug — a face
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. face — to point toward
  5. face — to confront
  6. scale — in music
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. key — for a lock
  11. scale — size or range
  12. face — part of the head
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. present — a gift
  15. mug — a cup
  16. key — in music
  17. mug — to rob
  18. clip — for paper
  19. present — the time now
  20. present — there
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. key — the most important part
  23. fork — in a road
  24. wake — a trail

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