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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. saw — the tool
  3. squash — the sport
  4. march — music
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. squash — to crush
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rule — government
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. saw — the tool
  15. mine — for digging
  16. cell — a phone
  17. rule — a law
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. march — the month
  21. cell — in biology
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. march — the month

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