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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. fork — in a road
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. row — to paddle
  6. pop — music
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. pop — to visit
  11. hand — help
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. pound — a weight
  14. kid — to tease
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. row — a line
  17. kid — child
  18. pop — soda
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. hand — in cards
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. fork — to eat with

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