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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. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. kick — in football
  4. land — to come down
  5. swing — music
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. swing — in golf
  11. lie — to recline
  12. swing — to play on
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. land — ground
  15. stock — shares
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. fork — in a road
  18. stock — goods
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bat — the animal
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. land — a country

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