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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 116 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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  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. rule — a law
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. fall — to drop
  6. dip — to sink
  7. band — a ring
  8. kid — to tease
  9. sharp — clever
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. fall — to drop
  12. stem — to come from
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. fork — in a road
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. fall — the season
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. rule — government
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. band — a music group
  23. fork — a garden 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