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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. drill — a practice
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. track — to keep track
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. board — a committee
  7. board — to get on
  8. kid — to tease
  9. track — a song
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. drill — army training
  12. drill — the tool
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. stock — goods
  15. stock — shares
  16. fork — in a road
  17. track — a path
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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