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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. key — in music
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. fork — in a road
  6. key — the most important part
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. game — a match
  9. hand — in cards
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. key — for a lock
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. rush — hurry
  14. hand — help
  15. cold — an illness
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. game — wild animals
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. trunk — of a tree

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