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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. track — to keep track
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. net — in sport
  6. content — happy
  7. object — a thing
  8. net — for catching
  9. object — to protest
  10. hand — in cards
  11. drill — a practice
  12. hand — help
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. drill — army training
  16. track — a song
  17. object — an aim
  18. net — after costs
  19. track — a path
  20. content — the amount
  21. drill — the tool
  22. fork — in a road
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — dry grass

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