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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. spell — letters
  4. last — to go on
  5. spell — magic
  6. root — the cause
  7. kid — to tease
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. root — of a plant
  10. spell — a short time
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. fork — in a road
  13. net — after costs
  14. bank — of a river
  15. net — in sport
  16. bank — for money
  17. last — final
  18. root — of a word
  19. last — finally
  20. bank — for money
  21. net — for catching
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. kid — child
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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