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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 120 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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. hand — in cards
  4. saw — the tool
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. hand — help
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. mug — a face
  10. fork — in a road
  11. chair — a leader
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. clip — to cut
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — rain
  16. saw — the tool
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. shower — to wash
  20. clip — a video
  21. mug — to rob
  22. mug — a cup
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. clip — for paper

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