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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: saw · pit · fork · row · bear · game

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. bear — the animal
  4. fork — in a road
  5. row — a line
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. pit — a hole
  9. saw — the tool
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. game — a match
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. row — to paddle
  17. pit — in a race
  18. game — wild animals

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