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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. fork — in a road
  3. wake — a trail
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. roll — a list
  6. track — to keep track
  7. bat — the animal
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. track — a song
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. track — a path
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. roll — a cake
  14. drill — army training
  15. cold — not warm
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — the tool
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. cold — the Cold War

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