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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. net — for catching
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — a line
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. net — after costs
  12. fork — in a road
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. hand — help
  20. mine — for digging
  21. net — in sport
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bat — the animal
  24. row — to paddle

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