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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: fan · deal · fork · kid · spring · perch · march · last

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  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. spring — of water
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. deal — to handle
  5. march — the month
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. spring — a coil
  8. last — final
  9. spring — the season
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. fork — in a road
  12. march — music
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. kid — to tease
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. kid — child
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. perch — the fish
  20. march — the month
  21. last — finally
  22. last — to go on
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  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