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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: perch · mark · mine · race · fork · rash · calf · pitch

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. fork — in a road
  10. rash — a series
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. mark — a grade
  13. race — the arms race
  14. mark — a trace
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. rash — hasty
  17. race — a contest
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. perch — the fish
  20. mine — for digging
  21. race — humankind
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. pitch — completely
  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