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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. kid — to tease
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. spell — magic
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. saw — the tool
  7. pound — a weight
  8. spell — letters
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. fall — to drop
  11. spell — a short time
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. fall — the season
  14. mate — to breed
  15. saw — the tool
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. kid — child
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. fall — to drop
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. mate — a friend
  24. fork — in a road

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