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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. tear — to rip
  4. cue — a signal
  5. staff — employees
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. tear — from crying
  9. fork — in a road
  10. staff — a stick
  11. cue — for pool
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. tear — from crying
  14. spell — a short time
  15. staff — employees
  16. spell — letters
  17. cue — a hint
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. spell — magic
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. rash — hasty
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. rash — a series

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