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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. rush — hurry
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. pit — a hole
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. cell — a phone
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. fork — in a road
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. row — to paddle
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. pit — in a race
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. dip — to sink
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. hand — in cards
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. hand — help
  22. row — a line
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. cell — in biology

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