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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. squash — to crush
  3. branch — a division
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. cold — an illness
  7. fork — in a road
  8. cue — a hint
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. clip — for paper
  11. kid — to tease
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. squash — the sport
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cue — for pool
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. kid — child
  22. jam — a tight spot
  23. cue — a signal
  24. cold — not warm

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