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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. chest — of your body
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. field — farmland
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. spell — letters
  8. chest — of your body
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. swing — to play on
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. swing — in golf
  14. tear — to rip
  15. swing — music
  16. spell — magic
  17. field — for sport
  18. field — a subject
  19. tear — from crying
  20. fork — in a road
  21. tear — from crying
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. spell — a short time
  24. chest — a box

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