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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. rule — a law
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. spring — a coil
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. rule — government
  11. kick — in football
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. spring — the season
  15. fork — in a road
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. perch — the fish
  21. spring — of water
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. fork — a garden tool

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