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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: file · hand · fork · wound · straw · ground · club · perch

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. ground — a position
  3. ground — the earth
  4. club — for dancing
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. hand — help
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. file — a document
  11. club — for golf
  12. fork — in a road
  13. ground — crushed
  14. hand — in cards
  15. perch — the fish
  16. file — a tool
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. file — a line of people
  22. club — a group
  23. wound — an injury
  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