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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. fine — all right
  3. squash — the sport
  4. fall — the season
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. key — for a lock
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. fall — to drop
  9. wind — moving air
  10. fine — high quality
  11. wind — moving air
  12. fall — to drop
  13. key — in music
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. key — the most important part
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. fork — in a road
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. mine — for digging
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. mine — an explosive

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