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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 water is too ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. face — part of the head
  5. fork — in a road
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. tube — the underground
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. face — to confront
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. face — to point toward
  14. kick — in football
  15. cold — an illness
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. tube — a container
  19. pound — a weight
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. toast — bread

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