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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. tear — from crying
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. cap — a hat
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. tear — to rip
  10. fork — in a road
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. hand — help
  13. tear — from crying
  14. deal — to handle
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. file — a document
  17. march — the month
  18. file — a line of people
  19. cap — a lid
  20. march — the month
  21. file — a tool
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. cap — of ice
  24. march — music

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