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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. swing — in golf
  3. net — for catching
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. fork — in a road
  6. wound — an injury
  7. stock — shares
  8. tear — to rip
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. wound — an injury
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. stock — goods
  13. net — in sport
  14. swing — music
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. tear — from crying
  17. season — in sport
  18. swing — to play on
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. plane — a tool
  21. season — of the year
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. net — after costs
  24. tear — from crying

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