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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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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. wound — an injury
  6. fork — in a road
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. foot — a measure
  9. hand — in cards
  10. mine — for digging
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. wound — an injury
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. kid — to tease
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. hand — help
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. kid — child
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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