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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. clip — for paper
  3. rash — hasty
  4. cue — for pool
  5. game — a match
  6. fork — in a road
  7. drill — army training
  8. cue — a hint
  9. cue — a signal
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. game — wild animals
  13. chest — a box
  14. clip — a video
  15. rash — a series
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — of your body
  20. drill — a practice
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. clip — to cut
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. drill — the tool

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