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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. court — of a king
  5. dip — to sink
  6. track — a song
  7. court — for sport
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. saw — the tool
  10. court — of law
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. saw — the tool
  14. fork — in a road
  15. track — a path
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. track — to keep track
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. spell — a short time
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — letters

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