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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 120 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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. file — a line of people
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. club — for golf
  5. file — a document
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. club — for dancing
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. band — a music group
  10. file — a tool
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — a video
  14. band — a ring
  15. dip — to sink
  16. fork — in a road
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. present — there
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. present — the time now
  23. club — a group
  24. present — a gift

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