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

  1. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — to come from
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. hand — in cards
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. fork — in a road
  11. hand — help
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. season — in sport
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. season — of the year
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. pound — a weight

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