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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. fork — in a road
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. clip — to cut
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. plane — a tool
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. object — an aim
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. branch — a division
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. object — a thing
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. clip — for paper
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. clip — a video
  22. sharp — clever
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. plane — in geometry

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