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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. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. lie — to recline
  3. mate — a friend
  4. last — finally
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. mate — to breed
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — final
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. rash — a series
  14. shower — to wash
  15. rash — hasty
  16. scale — in music
  17. fork — in a road
  18. shower — rain
  19. file — a tool
  20. mate — a partner
  21. file — a line of people
  22. scale — size or range
  23. file — a document
  24. scale — for weighing

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