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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. cold — not warm
  3. saw — the tool
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. bass — low music
  7. last — finally
  8. last — final
  9. rush — hurry
  10. bass — the fish
  11. last — to go on
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. cold — an illness
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. fork — in a road

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