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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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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: fork · hand · spring · present · tube · fall · field · safe

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. field — farmland
  3. hand — in cards
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. present — a gift
  6. spring — a coil
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. fork — in a road
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. fall — to drop
  12. spring — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. tube — the underground
  15. field — a subject
  16. present — there
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. tube — a container
  19. spring — of water
  20. fall — the season
  21. field — for sport
  22. hand — help
  23. present — the time now
  24. safe — out of danger

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