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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. hand — help
  3. saw — the tool
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. field — for sport
  9. stock — shares
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. field — a subject
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bass — low music
  14. field — farmland
  15. saw — the tool
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. stock — goods
  18. wind — moving air
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. fork — in a road
  23. bass — the fish
  24. wind — moving air

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