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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: march · craft · clip · fork · tube · object · rest · key

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. clip — for paper
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. key — the most important part
  6. rest — what's left
  7. march — the month
  8. rest — a break
  9. tube — a container
  10. object — an aim
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. clip — a video
  13. march — the month
  14. key — in music
  15. march — music
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. clip — to cut
  18. fork — in a road
  19. object — a thing
  20. tube — the underground
  21. key — for a lock
  22. rest — what's left
  23. craft — a skill
  24. object — to protest

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