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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. scale — in music
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. chest — a box
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. saw — the tool
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. saw — the tool
  16. scale — size or range
  17. fork — in a road
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — of your body
  23. deal — to handle
  24. calf — a young animal

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