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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. chest — of your body
  3. row — a line
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. last — to go on
  7. season — of the year
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. spell — magic
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. chest — a box
  12. chest — of your body
  13. spell — a short time
  14. fork — in a road
  15. season — in sport
  16. can — a tin
  17. last — final
  18. can — a tin
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. last — finally
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. spell — letters
  23. row — to paddle
  24. can — to be able to

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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