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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 120 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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468
Word bank
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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. cold — not warm
  3. stick — to attach or keep to
  4. cell — in biology
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. sharp — clever
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. fork — in a road
  11. hand — in cards
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. hand — help
  16. game — a match
  17. game — wild animals
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. cold — an illness
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. cell — a phone
  24. racket — for tennis

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