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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. hand — help
  3. land — to come down
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. staff — employees
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. fork — in a road
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. hand — in cards
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. land — ground
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. foot — a measure
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. staff — employees
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. land — a country
  21. wax — to grow
  22. staff — a stick
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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