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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. mate — a partner
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. spell — a short time
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. mate — to breed
  8. bat — the animal
  9. drill — the tool
  10. drill — a practice
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fork — in a road
  13. spell — magic
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. mate — a friend
  18. drill — army training
  19. hand — help
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. spell — letters
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. hand — in cards
  24. cold — not warm

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