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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. ground — the earth
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. hand — help
  5. squash — to crush
  6. fork — in a road
  7. ground — crushed
  8. land — a country
  9. chair — a leader
  10. squash — the sport
  11. drill — army training
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. hand — in cards
  14. spring — a coil
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — the tool
  17. ground — a position
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. spring — the season
  20. land — to come down
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. spring — of water
  23. land — ground
  24. squash — the vegetable

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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