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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. rest — what's left
  5. race — a contest
  6. clip — a video
  7. roll — a list
  8. race — humankind
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. rest — a break
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. rest — what's left
  14. roll — a cake
  15. clip — for paper
  16. race — the arms race
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — child
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. fork — in a road
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. roll — on a roll

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