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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. row — a line
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. squash — the sport
  6. wound — an injury
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. deal — to handle
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. wound — an injury
  14. squash — to crush
  15. rush — hurry
  16. content — the amount
  17. cold — an illness
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. content — happy
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fork — in a road
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. row — to paddle

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