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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. face — to confront
  3. cold — not warm
  4. squash — to crush
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — to cut
  9. wax — to grow
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. clip — a video
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. fork — in a road
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. cold — an illness
  17. face — to point toward
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. face — part of the head
  20. stem — to come from
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. squash — the sport

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