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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 120 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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. hand — help
  4. ball — a great time
  5. rule — a law
  6. rule — government
  7. ball — a dance
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. rush — hurry
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. net — for catching
  20. net — in sport
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. fork — in a road
  23. net — after costs
  24. perch — the fish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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