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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. cold — not warm
  3. tear — from crying
  4. rest — what's left
  5. ground — a position
  6. present — the time now
  7. kid — child
  8. cold — an illness
  9. can — to be able to
  10. present — a gift
  11. kid — to tease
  12. tear — from crying
  13. can — a tin
  14. ground — the earth
  15. rest — what's left
  16. ground — crushed
  17. can — a tin
  18. tear — to rip
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. present — there
  22. fork — in a road
  23. rest — a break
  24. cold — the Cold War

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