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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. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  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. tear — to rip
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. game — a match
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. land — a country
  8. tear — from crying
  9. game — wild animals
  10. land — ground
  11. shower — rain
  12. pit — in a race
  13. season — in sport
  14. shower — to wash
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. bass — low music
  17. season — of the year
  18. land — to come down
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bass — the fish
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. pit — a hole
  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