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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pop — music
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. ground — a position
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. current — electric
  8. key — in music
  9. pop — soda
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. current — of water
  12. kid — to tease
  13. key — the most important part
  14. key — for a lock
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. fork — in a road
  17. ground — the earth
  18. current — happening now
  19. tear — to rip
  20. kid — child
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. ground — crushed
  23. tear — from crying
  24. pop — to visit

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