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

Word bank: cell · present · bowl · sharp · club · cold · fork · wave

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  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. cell — a phone
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cold — an illness
  8. present — a gift
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. cold — not warm
  15. present — there
  16. sharp — clever
  17. club — a group
  18. present — the time now
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. club — for dancing
  23. club — for golf
  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