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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  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. fork — a garden tool
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. track — a path
  5. fork — in a road
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. file — a tool
  8. pit — in a race
  9. track — to keep track
  10. track — a song
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. file — a line of people
  13. object — to protest
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. object — an aim
  16. hand — help
  17. file — a document
  18. object — a thing
  19. hand — in cards
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — for digging
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pit — a hole
  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