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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. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. spring — a coil
  5. squash — the sport
  6. spring — the season
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cue — a signal
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. row — to paddle
  11. cold — an illness
  12. spring — of water
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cue — for pool
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. squash — to crush
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. fork — in a road
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. cue — a hint
  24. row — a quarrel

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