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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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. dip — to sink
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. face — to confront
  6. court — of law
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. cold — an illness
  11. court — for sport
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. fork — in a road
  14. face — part of the head
  15. lean — to bend
  16. snap — to click
  17. lean — thin
  18. land — a country
  19. court — of a king
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — ground
  22. face — to point toward
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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