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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. row — to paddle
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. fork — in a road
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. hand — in cards
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chip — for betting
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. squash — to crush
  15. squash — the sport
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. row — a line
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chip — to eat
  20. hand — help
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. jam — in traffic

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