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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. hand — help
  4. swing — music
  5. swing — in golf
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. swing — to play on
  9. hand — in cards
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. fork — in a road
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. file — a line of people
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. file — a tool
  18. kick — in football
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. file — a document
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stem — to come from
  24. fork — to eat with

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