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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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. hand — help
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. fine — all right
  9. mate — a friend
  10. cold — an illness
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. fork — in a road
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. clip — a video
  16. mate — to breed
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. mate — a partner
  21. clip — to cut
  22. hand — in cards
  23. clip — for paper
  24. fine — high quality

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