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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 124 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: spell · fork · chest · saw · temple · track · kid · clip

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. kid — to tease
  3. clip — a video
  4. spell — letters
  5. track — to keep track
  6. chest — a box
  7. saw — the tool
  8. spell — magic
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. clip — to cut
  11. fork — in a road
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. spell — a short time
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. kid — child
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. saw — the tool
  20. clip — for paper
  21. track — a path
  22. chest — of your body
  23. track — a song
  24. chest — of your body

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