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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. mate — to breed
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. mine — for digging
  7. staff — employees
  8. staff — a stick
  9. net — after costs
  10. mate — a partner
  11. spring — a coil
  12. fork — in a road
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. mate — a friend
  15. spring — of water
  16. net — for catching
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. pound — a weight
  20. spring — the season
  21. staff — employees
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — the fish

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