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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. kid — child
  8. bound — certain
  9. pit — a hole
  10. stock — goods
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. fork — in a road
  13. pit — in a race
  14. wind — moving air
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. cold — an illness
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. kid — to tease
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. bound — obliged
  23. stock — shares
  24. bound — tied together

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