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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. chest — of your body
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. tear — to rip
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. tear — from crying
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. chest — of your body
  15. snap — to click
  16. tear — from crying
  17. kick — in football
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. hand — help
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. fork — in a road

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