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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. fork — in a road
  3. stock — shares
  4. cell — a phone
  5. drill — the tool
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. scale — in music
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. drill — a practice
  13. cue — a signal
  14. stock — goods
  15. scale — size or range
  16. cue — for pool
  17. hand — help
  18. drill — army training
  19. cell — in biology
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. hand — in cards
  22. lie — to recline
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. scale — for weighing

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