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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. present — a gift
  5. tear — from crying
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. press — newspapers
  9. chest — of your body
  10. press — a publisher
  11. press — to push
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. tear — from crying
  14. present — the time now
  15. squash — the sport
  16. fork — in a road
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. chest — a box
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. squash — to crush
  21. present — there
  22. tear — to rip
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. chest — of your body

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