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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. pop — music
  4. face — to confront
  5. ground — a position
  6. ground — crushed
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. pop — soda
  10. spell — magic
  11. bat — the animal
  12. face — part of the head
  13. spell — letters
  14. ground — the earth
  15. face — to point toward
  16. spring — the season
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. spring — of water
  19. pop — to visit
  20. spell — a short time
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. fork — in a road

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