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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 124 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. lean — to bend
  3. kid — child
  4. spell — a short time
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. tear — from crying
  7. stock — shares
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. squash — to crush
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. stock — goods
  14. squash — the sport
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. spell — magic
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. lean — thin
  21. spell — letters
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. fork — in a road
  24. fork — a garden tool

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