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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 116 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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. ground — a position
  3. spring — a coil
  4. kid — child
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. spring — the season
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. squash — the sport
  9. root — of a plant
  10. root — of a word
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. spring — of water
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. squash — to crush
  15. root — the cause
  16. kid — to tease
  17. ground — crushed
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. fork — in a road
  21. kick — in football
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. ground — the earth
  24. squash — the vegetable

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