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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cold · tear · press · nail · cue · fork

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. tear — from crying
  3. press — a publisher
  4. cue — for pool
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cue — a hint
  8. tear — to rip
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. fork — in a road
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. cue — a signal
  13. tear — from crying
  14. press — newspapers
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. press — to push
  18. fork — a garden tool

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