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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 116 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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. ground — crushed
  6. ground — the earth
  7. rash — hasty
  8. season — of the year
  9. tear — from crying
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. face — to confront
  12. rash — a series
  13. face — to point toward
  14. bat — the animal
  15. fork — in a road
  16. ground — a position
  17. tear — from crying
  18. face — part of the head
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. perch — the fish
  22. tear — to rip
  23. season — in sport
  24. season — to add flavour

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