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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. object — to protest
  5. spell — letters
  6. shower — to wash
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. snap — to click
  9. bat — the animal
  10. spell — a short time
  11. object — a thing
  12. saw — the tool
  13. saw — the tool
  14. object — an aim
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. fork — in a road
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. dip — to sink
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. spell — magic
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. shower — rain

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