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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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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: wind · date · chest · fork · saw · land · key · perch

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. chest — of your body
  6. saw — the tool
  7. date — the fruit
  8. key — the most important part
  9. key — in music
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. land — a country
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. wind — moving air
  14. saw — the tool
  15. chest — a box
  16. wind — moving air
  17. key — for a lock
  18. chest — of your body
  19. fork — in a road
  20. land — ground
  21. land — to come down
  22. perch — the fish
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. perch — for a bird

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