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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. firm — steady
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. club — for dancing
  5. branch — a division
  6. drill — a practice
  7. cold — an illness
  8. club — for golf
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. rush — hurry
  11. fork — in a road
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. firm — a company
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. kid — to tease
  18. club — a group
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. firm — decided
  21. drill — army training
  22. cold — not warm
  23. drill — the tool
  24. kid — child

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