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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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468
Word bank
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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. kick — in football
  5. season — in sport
  6. toast — bread
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. wake — a trail
  9. season — of the year
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. fork — in a road
  14. rest — what's left
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. rest — what's left
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. cold — not warm
  21. rest — a break
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. cold — the Cold War

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