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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. cold — an illness
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. wound — an injury
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. stem — to come from
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. cold — not warm
  16. lie — to recline
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. wound — an injury
  20. fork — in a road
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. kick — in football
  24. kick — with a leg

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