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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: present · fork · stem · ball · ground · hand · wind · game

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. present — the time now
  3. ball — a dance
  4. ground — crushed
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. wind — moving air
  7. ball — a great time
  8. wind — moving air
  9. hand — help
  10. stem — to come from
  11. present — a gift
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. present — there
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — in cards
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. ground — the earth
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. ground — a position
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a match
  24. fork — in a road

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