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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: fork · rest · file · wind · dip · date · row · face

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. row — a line
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. rest — what's left
  8. file — a line of people
  9. face — to confront
  10. rest — what's left
  11. rest — a break
  12. face — to point toward
  13. face — part of the head
  14. file — a document
  15. row — to paddle
  16. file — a tool
  17. fork — in a road
  18. wind — moving air
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. dip — to sink
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. date — the fruit
  24. dip — a sauce

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