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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. kid — to tease
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. fall — to drop
  5. bass — the fish
  6. sharp — clever
  7. fall — to drop
  8. bass — low music
  9. fork — in a road
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. kid — child
  17. row — a line
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. row — to paddle
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. fall — the season
  23. wake — a trail
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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