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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. The ________________ took off on time.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. fork — in a road
  3. squash — the sport
  4. file — a document
  5. mine — for digging
  6. squash — to crush
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. plane — a tool
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. mark — a grade
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. cold — an illness
  15. file — a line of people
  16. file — a tool
  17. content — happy
  18. content — the amount
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. cold — not warm
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mark — a trace

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