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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. lean — to bend
  6. hand — help
  7. cell — a phone
  8. track — a song
  9. lean — thin
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. plane — a tool
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. track — a path
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. hand — in cards
  18. fork — in a road
  19. tear — to rip
  20. cell — in biology
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — from crying
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. track — to keep track

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