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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 120 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: bowl · spring · fork · wake · mouse · snap · board · cold

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. board — a committee
  5. cold — an illness
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. fork — in a road
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. board — to get on
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. snap — to click
  16. spring — of water
  17. spring — the season
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. spring — a coil
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. wake — a trail
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. bowl — to roll

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