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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 120 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 need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. present — the time now
  4. rest — a break
  5. cold — an illness
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. present — there
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. rest — what's left
  10. drill — army training
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. chest — a box
  13. chest — of your body
  14. fork — in a road
  15. present — a gift
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. sharp — clever
  21. chest — of your body
  22. rest — what's left
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. drill — a practice

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