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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: spring · fork · wind · pit · saw · staff · club · file

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. saw — the tool
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fork — in a road
  5. club — a group
  6. club — for golf
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. spring — the season
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. wind — moving air
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. pit — a hole
  14. saw — the tool
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. club — for dancing
  17. file — a document
  18. staff — a stick
  19. spring — a coil
  20. staff — employees
  21. staff — employees
  22. pit — in a race
  23. spring — of water
  24. file — a line of people

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